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The Loyyal journey in Dubai seen through Privity’s lens

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The Loyyal journey in Dubai seen through Privity’s lens

http://bravenewcoin.com/news/loyyal-helps-to-make-dubai-the-global-leader-in-blockchain-technology

 

Circa late November 2014, I received a call from my dear friend Sadiq

Hussain and my neighbour (we live 25 floors apart!) suggesting I meet with

his house-guest, Gregory Simon, who was in Dubai as a speaker at the first

Blockchain conference in the UAE. We met on the 30F of our building  and

after exchanging pleasantries got introduced to this almost “wunder-tech”

called Blockchain. My two maths degrees let me down initially but over the

months and several Skype calls later with Greg exercising utmost patience,

I got my epiphany moment, to which I uttered-“Greg, this is probably one of

the most exciting phenomena we are witnessing in our lifetimes since the

advent of electricity!”- a statement now indelibly imprinted in my brain.

Since then, Loyyal(fka Ribbit.me) completed a Seed round of funding, the

Dubai Government launched the Global Blockchain Council and more recently

launched the Dubai Futures Accelerators to which Loyyal got chosen as one

of the 31 inaugural cohorts. On Oct 9th at the DFA they showcased a live

demo to an audience of about 100 people and yesterday I read with humility

and delight the article above in BravenewCoin.com- needless to say, a proud

moment for Privity, hence the need to document and share this journey for

posterity.

Sleem Hasan

Loyyal helps make Dubai the global leader in Blockchain technology

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Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan recently launched the Dubai Blockchain Strategy, a plan to use the technology in several different areas. The Blockchain Strategy has three main objectives, making the government more efficient, creating specialized sectors for business, and achieving global leadership.

“Dubai has sought to position itself at the forefront of the technology, and became the first government to introduce this technology in the world.” – Dubai Blockchain Technology

One of the blockchain platforms being used in Dubai is a universal loyalty and rewards system, run by New York-based blockchain startup Loyyal. The company CEO Gregory Simon officially announced the launch of the Dubai Points program on Sunday night.

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“Innovate for Refugees” award winners announced in Amman

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AMMAN — Winners were announced on Tuesday in the “Innovate for Refugees” competition, honouring entrepreneurs with inventive ideas to address challenges facing refugees.

A team from the US, “Change: Water Labs” and Moroccan team Evaptainers each won a $20,000 prize in the category for best technological solution, organisers announced at a ceremony held under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania.

Minister of Municipal Affairs Walid Masri deputised for Her Majesty at the ceremony.

The Evaptainers designed “mobile and modular evaporative coolers that are ideal for low-income, off-grid areas and that can triple or quadruple the shelf-life of most produce”, according to the competition’s website.

The “Change: Water Labs” project consists of a “revolutionary evaporative toilet that is low-cost, compact, stand-alone solution for off-grid and informal dwellings and which rapidly ‘flushes’ away 85-90 per cent of daily household sewage volumes”.

The NaTakallam project from the US, a platform connecting Syrian refugees with Arabic learners around the world to make money while teaching Arabic, also won a $20,000 prize.

The LEDlife team from Switzerland won a $20,000 prize for their project to teach refugees how to use renewable energy technologies.

The Open Embassy project from the Netherlands won a $30,000 prize, while Recycle Beirut and Boloro and BanQ projects won $20,000 each.

Open Embassy is “an online helpdesk that enables… refugees with a permit to ask questions about their integration process”. From their answers, the project “develops an FAQ and a smart wiki and shares the lessons learnt with the key stakeholders”.

Boloro and BanQ “brings financial inclusion and economic opportunity solutions for refugees”, according to the contest’s organisers.