KSA to become digital leader by adopting Blockchain, AI and 5G

KSA Experts Vision Consulting CEO Dr. Basim Zafar believes that The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can become a digital leader bu adopting Blockchain, AI and 5G. He stated during BSV Blockchain event " Blockchain for Saudi Vision 2030" in KSA that the Saudi Vision 2030 program will accelerate tech adoption.

The BSV blockchain is the a public blockchain which scales unbounded thanks to its unlimited block size while retaining the secure proof-of-work consensus mechanism that is the foundation for its immutability and transaction validation.

KSA Experts Vision Consulting, is focused on working with the Saudi Arabian government to deploy innovative technology projects to accelerate its digital transformation and boost technical capabilities in both the private and public sector. It was in the course of this work that he first encountered BSV, which he says immediately impressed him.

As Zafar states, ‘Three years ago was the first time I met a member of the BSV blockchain’s association, and we were discussing applying smart contracts to some of the projects we were working on in Saudi Arabia. After that, we started working together on a pilot project with a governmental organization in Saudi Arabia. Since then, it has been very good. We have built a good relationship with the team and I have become very interested in blockchain technology."

He adds, "I think BSV is different than other technology. It brings high-speed blockchain movement and large block sizes which is currently needed. And with the introduction of IPv6 integrated with blockchain, I think this world will be changed – a lot of applications will open up in the real world and in the metaverse world."

He gives examples on where KSA entities can utilize blockchain, such as for waste management, or Smart Hajj or project management. he explains, " Saudi Arabia has an innovation-friendly approach to cutting-edge technologies like blockchain, which will serve it well in cementing its position as a global leader in digital initiatives. Saudi Arabia is set to become a global leader of the digital economy through adopting and implementing emerging technologies such as blockchain AI, and 5G within the private and public sectors. Saudi Arabia was amongst the first countries that applied blockchain through some of the pilot programs they did through different government organizations."

‘The Zatak, Tax and Customs Authority of Saudi Arabia had a project in 2019 where they applied blockchain technology to the monitoring and importing goods from outside Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Finance through the central bank also adopted a pilot project where they transfer money using a blockchain network. The Communications and Information Technology Commission also has its own different blockchain project.’

‘I think blockchain can be applied in many ways here in the public sector. I think this is especially true for Hajj, there are a lot of applications in Hajj that can use the benefit of blockchain. For example, we have people coming from around the world, more than 200 countries, coming to Mecca every year to perform Hajj,’ Dr Basim says.

‘We can use blockchain to record the identity of those people, to create health records for them, and currently with this COVID 19 pandemic, we can also track their vaccine status for when they come to Makkah, to be sure they have been vaccinated. There also many other blockchain applications that can work across the boundary of the of the kingdom to cover the globe.’