Dubai Land Department to implement Four Blockchain Projects in 2018

DLD is developing as well a smart Listing portal that is Blockchain enabled to be launched in Q3. The journey into real-estate starts with the listing of real-estate. Al Suwaidi explains, “By listing property on a Blockchain enabled portal it will allow real-time listing of information, with no duplications or outdated information. In addition once a property is sold it is automatically delisted. But what is more interesting is that this will be linked to our Blockchain Title deed solution and so from listing, to selling to registration of title deeds it all becomes seamless, smart, and digital.”

He adds, “We will work with brokers, owners, landlords who will be licensed to list property. So we will not eliminate the need for brokers because they have the skills and know-how needed and there will always be the need to visit these properties first hand or through Virtual Reality portals which is an option we are providing.”

As for payment, DLD will continue to use its integrated wallet solution. Already there are more than 10,000 wallets and it is easy to set up a wallet and link to bank account. Al Suwaidi however and his team are working on a Blockchain enabled payment platform to speed up transactions and make them less costly to investors, and buyers. Al Suwaidi is also looking into tokenization options. Suwaidi explains, “We are studying solutions pertaining to tokenization of real-estate and making payment transactions faster and more cost efficient.”

Module Three: Blockchain rental Platform

The current Blockchain rental solution is still in proof of concept stage because it involved more than 6-7 governmental entities. Al Suwaidi tells UNLOCK, “We will go into production soon and have partnered with Emirates NBD to provide Smart Checks. We are also working with WASL on this project as well as Smart Dubai for single sign on, in addition to EJARI (rental department arm in DLD).

Module Four: Blockchain Mortgage Platform

DLD through ERES is building a Blockchain Mortgage platform with Al Mashreq Bank as a partner. The solution will eventually allow all banks to mortgage and de-mortgage property online. All the needed procedures will start and end at the bank according to Al Suwaidi. As Suwaidi explains, “Eventually once it is up and running all banks will have to do is to create a node to connect to ours and then they can seamlessly mortgage and remortgage and de-mortgage property.

DLD Role in UAE Blockchain Vision

In April 2018 UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced a strategy to have 50% of UAE Government transactions on the Blockchain by 2021 in an effort to improve quality of life and happiness as noted. DLD as a pioneer in Blockchain implementation is ready to offer guidance and support. As Al Suwaidi commented, “We are more than ready to work with government entities in providing guidance and support. We have already engaged with several entities that even before the announcement were curious as to how they could implement Blockchain. We are more than happy to collaborate, and work with not only entities in UAE but outside. Why reinvent the wheel and start from scratch when there is an already existing model.”

In conclusion ERES has long been providing solutions in the real-estate realm for DLD and is currently offering solutions for entities anywhere in the globe through cloud offerings such as PRO-REC that allows governments to issues title deeds and host them on the cloud. In addition ERES has another product offering LEMATO which is a lease management tool a forked version of Ejari where property owners can manage their property from anywhere in the world through mobile apps even. Suwaidi states, “With our long standing experience, our know-how and the solutions we have built we are ready to offer off the shelf real-estate solutions to governmental, and individuals across the globe. And in the future we hope to offer as well Blockchain enabled solutions.”