The municipality of Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is collaborating with tech giant IBMto jointly develop blockchain solutions for government services and transactions.
Riyadh is the capital and most populous city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh province and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. The city is divided into 15 municipal districts, and home to more than six million people.
The partnership will see IBM work closely with Saudi tech firm Elm Company to develop an implementation strategy in order to bring blockchain technology to government services and transactions. IBM will develop the first blockchain solution at the municipal level, while Elm will implement the technology into services provided by the government.
The blockchain deployment is intended to serve customers digitally, and to support the transformational objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030, which was first introduced in 2016 by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Saudi Vision 2030 aims to transform the country’s economic model, making the private sector the engine of growth and jobs.
Tariq bin Abdul Aziz Al-Fares, Secretary of the Al Riyadh Region, said the partnership will contribute immensely to enhancing services at the municipal sector level. He said the Riyadh government, IBM and Elm will jointly organize workshops in collaboration with private and semi-government sectors in the city to identify services which can be transformed and enhanced through blockchain.
Dr Abdulrahman Al Jadhai, Chief Executive Officer of Elm, said the partnership will significantly enhance the methods and procedures of the services provided by the city.
“Elm is continuously applying its expertise, innovative capabilities, national talents and global partnerships towards the systematic digital development that ensures improved efficiency, in line with the Kingdom’s National Transformation Program 2020,” said Al Jadhai. “The expertise of Elm will contribute to enriching customer experience, to build the best solutions for both public and private sectors and to contribute to the transformation towards an e-Government model, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030.”
Tarek Zarg El Aioun, Country General Manager at IBM Saudi Arabia, said that through the collaboration between Riyadh Municipality, Elm and IBM, they will be able to help the Saudi government reimagine and transform the way in which services are provided to citizens, residents, businesses, and visitors.
“Blockchain is a revolutionary way to do business – and IBM is in the forefront of it,” said El Aioun. “We believe that this technology has the ability to change the world in the same way that the Internet while redefining how business and transactions happen.”
Source: https://blocktribune.com/riyadh-govt-selects-ibm-to-develop-blockchain-solutions/