UAE authorities announced plans to implement blockchain-based digital identity in government workflow. The aim is to protect employees and visitors of state institutions.

In light of the ongoing pandemic of the new coronavirus infection, the UAE Ministry of Public Development (MOCD) switched to digital channels of communication. According to the ministry, now state institutions are actively using digital identification of citizens who are advised to contact state organizations via chats.

The goal is to keep people from visiting government offices and service centers. Digital authentication is used for remote access to government services.

The MOCD said it had completely stopped receiving paper documents through its citizen service centers and switched to the digital workflow.

“This step confirms the ministry’s commitment to ensure the continuity and flexibility of all government services in light of the directives of the smart government to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” said Hessa Essa Buhumaid, UAE’s Minister of Community Development.

The department’s responsibilities include establishing social welfare institutions for the disabled and issuing marriage licenses.

The UAE news agency also reported that MOCD uses blockchain for digital authentication of documents. Currently, the blockchain system is capable of processing 2919 various types of documents.

UAE Pass is a digital identification solution developed by Smart Dubai, National Energy Supervision and the Digital Government of Abu Dhabi. Through the application, the user passes the identification procedure using his smartphone and gets the opportunity to sign documents with a digital signature.