Blockchain Technology, Sustainability
and Business: A Literature Review
and the Case of Dubai and UAE
Pythagoras N. Petratos, Nikolina Ljepava, and Asma Salman
Abstract
The importance of innovation across all sectors is
emphasized by the UAE leadership (United Arab Emirates, UAE Vision 2021). The UAE National Innovation
Strategy (NIS) aims to take innovation to new heights by
creating an innovation enabling environment, innovation
champions and priority sectors (United Arab Emirates,
2015). Among these priorities is technology and sustainability. UAE has encouraged numerous technology
activities, mainly The Smart Government and The Smart
City initiatives. Within this broader innovation and smart
city framework, the Dubai Blockchain Strategy was
recently launched. The purpose of this paper is to
elaborate on the UAE framework and identify business
areas that blockchain can have significant impact. UAE,
and Dubai in particular, has been a global markets and
finance hub. In this paper, we examine the potential
applications of blockchain technology in UAE finance
industry, exchanges and marketing. We also discuss the
role of blockchain technologies for sustainability. Blockchain is identified as one of the most important emerging
technologies (Mulligan et al. in World economic forum:
Blockchain beyond the hype—A practical framework for
business leaders, 2018). We conclude that UAE and
Dubai has rightly identified and promoted blockchain
technologies and more strategic investment would be
beneficial.
Keywords
Blockchain Á Finance Á Marketing Á UAE Á
Innovation Á Sustainability
1 Introduction
Blockchain is a type of Distributed Ledger Technology
(DLT). Blockchain became renown globally with the introduction of Bitcoin. Bitcoin popularity, users and value
increased over the years. Today there have been more than
1500 cryptocurrencies expanding on the initial concept of
Bitcoin. In addition, there are many more current and
anticipated applications of Blockchain in various industries.
In that sense the Blockchain, and broader the DLT, can have
a profound and massive impact on organizations and business. Therefore, it can be considered a foundational innovation and technology.
This paper elaborate on some business applications of
Blockchain Technology. We focus mainly on financial
applications and marketing applications. Blockchain can be
assumed to be an asset but also an exchange, that serves
financial and market operations. Although we do recognize
that there are many more businesses uses, we limit our
analysis to finance and marketing, which are vital for UAE.
The paper focus is on UAE, since there is a lack of research
in this area. The analysis starts by shortly describing
Blockchain without expanding on DLT, and discussing
related UAE policies. Next, we briefly discuss some general
applications of Blockchain and we then turn to financial and
marketing applications in the context of UAE. We examine
the current state-of-art of blockchain and investigate financial and marketing applications for UAE. Technologies like
Blockchain are critical for UAE government policy and
innovation. Blockchain can strengthen sustainability and in
particular, sustainable economic growth and consequently
enhancing UAE’s global competitiveness position.
P. N. Petratos Á N. Ljepava (&) Á A. Salman
American University in the Emirates, Dubai, UAE
e-mail: nikolina.ljepava@aue.ae
P. N. Petratos
e-mail: pythagoras.petratos@aue.ae
A. Salman
e-mail: asma.salman@aue.ae
P. N. Petratos
Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Oxford,
UK
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. Mateev and J. Nightingale (eds.), Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility—Volume 1,
Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32922-8_7
87
and Business: A Literature Review
and the Case of Dubai and UAE
Pythagoras N. Petratos, Nikolina Ljepava, and Asma Salman
Abstract
The importance of innovation across all sectors is
emphasized by the UAE leadership (United Arab Emirates, UAE Vision 2021). The UAE National Innovation
Strategy (NIS) aims to take innovation to new heights by
creating an innovation enabling environment, innovation
champions and priority sectors (United Arab Emirates,
2015). Among these priorities is technology and sustainability. UAE has encouraged numerous technology
activities, mainly The Smart Government and The Smart
City initiatives. Within this broader innovation and smart
city framework, the Dubai Blockchain Strategy was
recently launched. The purpose of this paper is to
elaborate on the UAE framework and identify business
areas that blockchain can have significant impact. UAE,
and Dubai in particular, has been a global markets and
finance hub. In this paper, we examine the potential
applications of blockchain technology in UAE finance
industry, exchanges and marketing. We also discuss the
role of blockchain technologies for sustainability. Blockchain is identified as one of the most important emerging
technologies (Mulligan et al. in World economic forum:
Blockchain beyond the hype—A practical framework for
business leaders, 2018). We conclude that UAE and
Dubai has rightly identified and promoted blockchain
technologies and more strategic investment would be
beneficial.
Keywords
Blockchain Á Finance Á Marketing Á UAE Á
Innovation Á Sustainability
1 Introduction
Blockchain is a type of Distributed Ledger Technology
(DLT). Blockchain became renown globally with the introduction of Bitcoin. Bitcoin popularity, users and value
increased over the years. Today there have been more than
1500 cryptocurrencies expanding on the initial concept of
Bitcoin. In addition, there are many more current and
anticipated applications of Blockchain in various industries.
In that sense the Blockchain, and broader the DLT, can have
a profound and massive impact on organizations and business. Therefore, it can be considered a foundational innovation and technology.
This paper elaborate on some business applications of
Blockchain Technology. We focus mainly on financial
applications and marketing applications. Blockchain can be
assumed to be an asset but also an exchange, that serves
financial and market operations. Although we do recognize
that there are many more businesses uses, we limit our
analysis to finance and marketing, which are vital for UAE.
The paper focus is on UAE, since there is a lack of research
in this area. The analysis starts by shortly describing
Blockchain without expanding on DLT, and discussing
related UAE policies. Next, we briefly discuss some general
applications of Blockchain and we then turn to financial and
marketing applications in the context of UAE. We examine
the current state-of-art of blockchain and investigate financial and marketing applications for UAE. Technologies like
Blockchain are critical for UAE government policy and
innovation. Blockchain can strengthen sustainability and in
particular, sustainable economic growth and consequently
enhancing UAE’s global competitiveness position.
P. N. Petratos Á N. Ljepava (&) Á A. Salman
American University in the Emirates, Dubai, UAE
e-mail: nikolina.ljepava@aue.ae
P. N. Petratos
e-mail: pythagoras.petratos@aue.ae
A. Salman
e-mail: asma.salman@aue.ae
P. N. Petratos
Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Oxford,
UK
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
M. Mateev and J. Nightingale (eds.), Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility—Volume 1,
Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32922-8_7
87