Bahrain Hopes to Cut Vehicle Data Storage Costs Using Blockchain

The Kingdom of Bahrain is eyeing the adoption blockchain technology in bid to cut the cost of maintaining the country's vehicle registration data.

Bahrain's General Directorate of Traffic (GDT) announced on Thursday a new plan to develop a blockchain-based vehicle registration system in the country and is now looking for a technical partner to focus on the system's design and implementation.

Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulwahab Al Khalifa, director general of the GDT, said in a statement:

"This registry will be a vital advancement in reducing the overall cost of maintaining critical vehicle information, offer greater efficiency in terms of supply chain management, and ensure a high level of transparency for all stakeholders in the vehicle registration ecosystem."

Announced during the Gateway Gulf Forum backed by the country's crown prince, the GDT's plan comes as part of a wider push by the Bahrain government to deliver advanced technologies through partnerships with the private sector.

Indeed, the Middle East country has already seen major financial institutions pursuing potential blockchain initiatives. As reported by CoinDesk in August 2017, the Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation has joined the R3 distributed ledger consortium in a bid to provide additional services to customers.

Earlier last year, the Bahrain government had also started a dialogue with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country's de facto central bank, seeking advice it sought to deploy a national blockchain pilot, according to a local news report.

"The ability for blockchain to be adopted at the country level is a huge opportunity for Bahrain to move into the spotlight as a pioneer in this space," CEO of Bahrain Economic Development Board, Khalid Al Rumaihi, said at the time.

Bahrain image via Shutterstock