Smart Dubai has tapped IBM (NYSE: IBM) to introduce the first government-endorsed blockchain platform-as-a-service in the United Arab Emirates.

Dubbed the Dubai Blockchain Platform, the enterprise-ready blockchain platform will be delivered through an IBM Cloud environment. It will allow businesses both in the UAE and globally to shift their blockchain testing and development into full-production.

Dubai Blockchain Platform

The Dubai Blockchain Platform will also help the Dubai government transform and digitize applicable government processes and citizen services, according to IBM.

The platform will help integrate digitized services and experiences run on IBM Blockchain into citizens’ day-to-day lives. Organizations will also benefit from keeping their data in-country and conducting transactions locally, and in turn, lower operational costs, the technology giant said in a press statement.

The platform will follow the Information Security Regulation standards issued by the Dubai government. It will also be powered by IBM’s mainframe technology, LinuxONE, which is capable of running more than 6.2 billion web transactions per day.

The Dubai Pay Blockchain Settlement and Reconciliation System is one of the first projects to migrate onto the Dubai Blockchain Platform. Through the service, a process that used to take entities approximately 45 days to reconcile and settle payments with other government entities, banks and financial institutions, is now reduced to real time, according to IBM.

“Smart Dubai has been moving rapidly towards our main objective of transforming the emirate into a full-fledged smart city that tops global competitiveness and happiness indexes,” Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, director general of the Smart Dubai Office, said in prepared statement.

Dubai Betting Big On Blockchain

By using blockchain technology, Dubai wants to become a paperless government by 2021. As part of the Dubai Blockchain Strategy, the city has seen the launch of various blockchain applications in a number of government entities across different sectors, including roads and transport, energy, healthcare and education.

“Dubai has been a pioneer in blockchain technology since its inception, while other major cities around the world were reluctant to embrace it for city-wide implementation,” Dr. Aisha of the Smart Dubai Office noted.

“The Dubai Blockchain Strategy set a clear path for the emirate to have the world’s first fully digitized government by 2021. The Dubai Blockchain Platform we are launching today with IBM – who bring a wealth of insight and expertise in the advanced tech industries – drives us forward in our mission and allows us to power all blockchain applications in the city from one united portal,” she added.

By working with IBM, Smart Dubai plans to run all applicable government transactions on blockchain and make Dubai a global benchmark for city-wide blockchain implementation.

“Blockchain is steadily moving towards becoming a multibillion market by 2019 and we, at Smart Dubai, have successfully embedded the technology in numerous services, the latest of which was the advanced ‘Dubai Pay Blockchain Settlement and Reconciliation System’, which eliminates friction from financial processes between government entities through automation and minimal human intervention. And with the launch of the Dubai Blockchain Platform today, we will be one step closer to implementing Blockchain-powered services and experiences into citizens’ day-to-day lives,” Wesam Lootah, CEO of the Smart Dubai Government Establishment, said in statement.