UAE telecom giant Du seeks blockchain applications in medical data security and identity authentication

If you are still marveling at the colorful hall of the Dubai headquarters of UAE telecommunications giant Du, then you are out of date. The real highlight is its information registration system.

In the early days, customers who went to Du to do business had to provide themselves with a plastic ID card, and Du would store the card information in a blue wooden box. However, as customer traffic increased day by day, Du changed its strategy. They gave customers yellow sticky notes with handwritten numbers on them, and then stored this information in the system for update.

However, as customer traffic grew, these old systems could no longer solve the problem of storing customer information.

In order to better solve the identity information problem, Jose Valles, vice president of Du's business department, began to explore the application of blockchain. Valles said that this can be said to be an expansion of Du's current business, because Du has long provided blockchain services for bank transaction authentication.

Du and Etisalat are the two largest telecom operators in the UAE, with annual revenues of 12.34 billion dirhams (the official currency of the UAE; equivalent to 3 million US dollars) and serving more than 7 million customers. Valles believes that with Du's strength and large customer base, the application of blockchain technology will be popularized one day.

The opportunities that blockchain can provide are limitless and its application range is very wide. As long as there are transactions, there is a place for blockchain.

In order to further study blockchain technology, Du joined the Dubai Global Blockchain Council (GBC), which was established by the Museum of the Future, an innovation center invested by the government, and consists of more than 40 members from regulatory departments, financial institutions, technology startups, etc.

Dubai’s Global Blockchain Council (GBC) received seven proposals last week, showing the results of its research into blockchain technology. However, Du’s proposal to use blockchain technology for medical records received the best response.

Storage of medical data

Valles said the Du proposal was inspired by the Dubai government's exploration of secure storage options for medical records.

The medical field is also exploring the feasibility of blockchain technology. Recently, there have been reports of cooperation between blockchain startup Gem and Philips’ medical department.

Valles said:

The security of medical data is indeed a major risk. We believe that blockchain technology can completely solve this problem.

Dubai’s Global Blockchain Council (GBC) commended Valles’ efforts in securely storing medical records as it is aligned with the GBC’s goals.

To facilitate the implementation of this healthcare plan, Du has partnered with GuardTime, an Estonian distributed ledger startup. The Estonian government has been working with GuardTime since 2011 to protect public and internal records. According to news reports, GuardTime has successfully secured 1 million medical records in Estonia.

Valles said Du and Guardtime are putting the finishing touches on the project and are also calling on hospitals in the UAE to participate.

Long-term development opportunities

Du has a longer-term plan for blockchain technology: using it in the field of identity information.

Valles said:

There are definitely business opportunities for blockchain technology because we have a complete KYC (Know-Your-Customer) recognition process. We can use blockchain technology to verify the identity of users during calls.

When asked when Du's information system would be updated, Valles said it was not yet clear.

He said Du still needs to conduct comprehensive tests on blockchain technology. However, he also expressed optimism about blockchain technology.

When people first started building roads, they didn’t even know about cement. Just like people can’t foresee the benefits of blockchain technology to economic development.

Blockchain will definitely improve people's living standards.