Further frameworks will be developed to test other technologies including AI, machine learning and precision medicine.

A new blockchain accelerator programme by the Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in the UAE is starting at Area 2071 in Emirates Towers in Dubai.

The programme will be hosted by the Dubai Future Foundation and will bring together both public and private sector entities, including blockchain specialists, experts from the World Economic Forum and various legislative authorities looking to implement blockchain-based technologies.

C4IR UAE will look to test blockchain government frameworks, a statement from the centre said, and will also test other technologies including artificial intelligence, machine learning and precision medicine.

The UAE’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a collaboration between the UAE government and the World Economic Forum. It is the fifth centre of its kind in the world, with the other four in the US, Japan, China and India.

The UAE government launched the Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021 in April last year. The strategy is aimed at moving 50 per cent of all government transactions on to the blockchain by 2021. The government expects to save Dh11bn by automating routine transactions, cutting out the printing of 398 million documents and saving 77 million work hours annually.