Lee Gibson Grant describes obstacles and a potential initial idea for Chisinau to explore; the example case of Dubai’s 2020 initiative. “First and foremost, Dubai aims to be the first city fully-powered by Blockchain technologies. Processing the likes of visa applications, bill payments and license renewals generate more than 100 million documents annually – by 2020, all these will be transacted digitally on the Blockchain. Going paperless will save Dubai US$1.5 billion (AED 5.5 billion) in administrative costs each year, reduce C02 emissions by 114 MTons and free up 25.1 million hours of economic activity”.
Grant Goes on to explain that such initiatives require huge investments and a massive amount of resources to be successful. But could the digitisation actually be implemented? This could be questioned on a larger scale based on the following questions; does Moldova have the legislation in place to support the technological advancements needed, does City Hall understand the real requirements necessary, along with the strategic strategies needed to execute and deliver such a bold initiative?
Could Chisinau turn the tables on the idea of being a ‘Smart City’ and leverage this in order to use higher technologies and attract investment into the capital? Could this proposal be appealing to international fintech companies?
Grant specified a very simple use case for City Hall to focus on which potentially offers solutions in several different areas, along with various other opportunities it would provide. For example, a new Waste to Energy Plant would require approximately a 200 Million USD investment and would create many new jobs. This would also make Moldova far more self-reliant on electricity generation by utilising Food Waste to create BioGaz and, the byproduct of which, compost, could be used in their agricultural sectors.
