The co-founder of the Gulf Blockchain Foundation has said Qatar’s supply chains can benefit from the use of the blockchain, but doesn’t see a strong future for crypto in the region at the moment.
Blockchain Use Cases in Qatar
Nick Gorman, co-founder of the Gulf Blockchain Foundation, made his comments during a seminar yesterday. In a report from Gulf Times, Gorman said:
“I don’t think there’s a strong future for cryptocurrencies here right now, given the Qatar Central Bank notice issued this year. But I do see a really good use cases for the blockchain in other arenas.”
Aside from the banking and finance sectors, these also include oil, gas, and in facilities management, he stated. Due to it being one of the most secure technologies, Gorman noted that the distributed ledger has an appeal factor in areas such as cybersecurity, property management, and personal identity management.
In Gorman’s opinion, though, the best use case of the technology in Qatar can be seen within strategic asset management. He added:
“It’s managing things like hospitals, schools, and making sure roads and bridges are maintained – these types of activities could be recorded in a blockchain.”
Another good example is Qatar’s resident permit system. He states that if someone enters the country and commits a crime, which is then recorded on the ledger, it can’t be erased.
Earlier this week, a report found that the technology could be used to improve supply chains in global mining. It went on to state that it would be a matter of not if, but when the industry adopts it to boost transparency and remove inefficiencies.
Notably, according to the CEO and co-founder of digital invoicing firm Tradeshift, the blockchain is not mature enough to support global supply chains.
In a report, Christian Lanng, stated that while the technology was great at proving the authenticity of goods, in addition to their point of origin, it was “not a high-performance technology.” However, while agencies such as the U.K.’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) are looking at ways to introduce the technology to improve food safety, some estimate that the blockchain won’t see widespread adoption for another 10 years.
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