Du sees new revenue streams from emerging technologies
Telecom operator partners with Dhonor for healthcare blockchain solution
Dubai-based telecom operator Du is turning to emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, Smart Cities, and blockchain services as a new source of revenue stream.
“These are new growth areas equipped with technology, technical resources, infrastructure and data centre capabilities and it is the fastest growing revenue stream in the organisation,” Jihad Tayara, vice-president for ICT commercial and business development at Du, told Gulf News at the Unlock Blockchain Forum taking place in Dubai.
Telecom operators are licensed to offer connectivity services, but on top of that Du is building a lot of services by partnering with other companies to offer managed services, he said.
Hype to reality
Du is offering ‘blockchain platform as a service’, the operating system needed to run the blockchain platform, by partnering with ConsenSys and will be officially launching in the first half of this year.
“We started offering the blockchain technology for the personal identification sector and moved to the health care sector by entering into a collaboration with the health care app provider Dhonor HealthTech for patient-centric safety verification of medicines,” Tayara said. Moreover, he said that Du is also in advanced talks with financial firms as well.
Tayara said that blockchain is moving from hype to reality. “The hype was during the cryptocurrency but the reality is that real projects are coming on stream. As with any new technology, implementation will take time,” he said.
Wassim Merheby, CEO of Dhonor HealthTech, said that the need for transparency and visibility to verify the authenticity and condition of the medicines that patients’ lives depend on is “essential”.