New blockchain e-Voting service complements Abu Dhabi economic vision

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) recently debuted a number of digital services, at the 36th GITEX Technology Week. GITEX is the largest technology exchange and marketplace for the Middle East and Africa. This years event takes place in Abu Dhabi from October 16 to 20, and over 140,000 visitors and 4,000+ exhibitors are expected to attend.

“Gitex Technology Week is one of the most influential, exciting and high-energy technology events worldwide, attracting a diverse audience of IT professionals, technology enthusiasts, students, consumers and regional traders.”
— – Dubai World Trade Center

ADX is a market for trading securities, including public company shares, government and corporate bonds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and any other instruments approved by the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA). At the end of 2015, ADX had 71 listed securities with a market capitalization of AED447 billion, approximately US$122 billion.

The exchange launched a digital platform equipped with various services at this years Technology Week, including Blockchain-based eVoting, a Rights Issue Management System, an Initial Public Offering (IPO) Management System, a Cash Dividend Payments Management System and a Virtual Stock Exchange game.

“Adopting Blockchain technology in our projects comes in alignment with the digital transformation of Abu Dhabi’s government services as we constantly strive to introduce new ways that ease the process of doing business in the Emirate,” said Chief Executive of ADX,  Rashed Al Blooshi.

Al Blooshi states that the exchange’s digital services are “Considered the top in the region within the digital scope that goes in line with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.” The ADX announcement stated that the Vision plays a vital role in ADX strategy; “It places the financial market in the context of economic and social development.”

The Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 was launched in 2006 as part of a government push to diversify the economy, and help make it less dependent on oil and gas. Abu Dhabi is the largest of seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as the country’s capital city.

The UAE’s GDP per capita was $70.24 million in 2015, which was one of the highest in the world. About 40 percent of the country’s gross domestic product is directly based on oil and gas output, according to Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). At the end of 2013 the Abu Dhabi Emirate controlled 94 percent of country’s oil and gas reserves, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

One of the sectors focused on in the Vision is financial services. “Abu Dhabi will greatly enhance its role as a regional financial services centre,” states the document.

“Financial markets will be encouraged and further developed in such a way to become the key financiers of economic sectors, industries, and projects.”
— – Abu Dhabi Executive Council

The ADX Blockchain eVoting Service is aimed at Annual General Meetings (AGMs), allowing any concerned parties to directly connect and monitor voting. The blockchain service handles, prepares, and sends the meeting invitations, decisions, and manages meeting notifications. Shareholders can then access AGM reports, statements, decisions and information via their smart devices.

The exchange states that this blockchain service will save time, cost, and effort. ADX expects the ability to connect from anywhere in the world via safe internet connections to add vitality to AGMs through high attendance and interaction.

The company claims that this service is “the first of its kind” for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. “We are proud to be the first stock market that employs Blockchain technology in the services provided to stakeholders,” Al Blooshi said, citing his company’s aspiration to become a fully digital exchange. “Our strategic objectives aligned with Abu Dhabi’s vision for building a knowledge-based sustainable economy that constantly evolves.”

“Blockchain is considered a decentralized and safe network through which deals linked to numerous documents, shares, financial products, digital notes, and commercial contracts can be executed. It is safe, fast, and efficient for all network partners as well as for those who participate in the workflow process.”

• Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

While the first in the MENA region, ADX is not the first to use blockchain technology for electronic voting. Nasdaq and the Republic of Estonia announced a blockchain eVoting service late last year. Facilitated by Estonia’s e-Residency platform, the service allows shareholders of companies listed on Nasdaq’s Tallinn Stock Exchange, Estonia’s only regulated securities market, to vote in shareholder meetings.

In July, Australia Post suggested that blockchain could be used by The Victorian Parliament’s Electoral Matters Committee, in response to an Electronic Voting Inquiry. The company also revealed that it is actively developing blockchain solution for e-voting. “A successful blockchain solution would allow for location agnostic participation (vote anywhere), would be tamper proof and would enable real time audit of results,” the company states.

The European Parliament subsequently published a report entitled “What if blockchain technology revolutionised voting?” Despite the digitalisation of several important aspects of modern life, elections are still largely conducted offline, on paper, the report states. E-voting could take many forms, such as using the internet or dedicated isolated networks. The paper contends that blockchains present a further choice. Use of this technology to distribute an open voting record among citizens takes away the need to trust central authorities to record, manage, count, and check votes.

Blockchain-enabled e-voting (BEV) would allow voters to hold a copy of the voting record. Changes cannot be made to this record and illegitimate votes cannot be added, as other voters have a record for comparison. The report also suggests that BEV could be combined with smart contracts, to automatically take action under certain agreed conditions such as implementing investment choices.

“BEV would shift power and trust away from central actors, such as electoral authorities, and foster the development of a tech-enabled community consensus.”
— – European Parliament

There are also some blockchain startups offering voting services. Blockchain Technologies Corp (BTC) hopes to replace existing voting machines with secure, open-source blockchain alternatives. The company’s flagship offering is called Blockchain Apparatus, a platform for creating non-financial blockchain records. The platform focuses on security by providing multiple audit trails, including paper and the blockchain, according to the website.

Another project that tackles voting is the Ukraine-based, e-Vox. Their Ethereum-based system can be used for e-petitions, primaries and other political processes by local councils and parliaments. In June, the team developed an e-voting system for local councils called NaRada. In August, the system was installed in Balta, a city in in south-western Ukraine, for use by the local council. The city’s population was approximately 18,993 in 2015.

Follow My Vote is another effort to use blockchain technology for voting. The nonpartisan organization was founded on July 4, 2012, and develops a polling system designed to ensure that elected representatives were truly voting in the interests of their constituents. In July 2014, Follow My Vote partnered with BitShares, and shifted its focus to developing a verifiable online voting platform secured with BitShares blockchain technology. It now aims to become the world’s first secure open-source online blockchain voting software.

Follow My Vote launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund its blockchain-based voting platform in April. “The project aims to bring transparency, convenience, and security to elections and polls of all kinds,” states the pitch. While the campaign was canceled and restarted, it raised $21,366 from 137 backers. The organization subsequently announced that they will be hosting a mock election, to demonstrate their technology in parallel to the 2016 United States Presidential Election.

“A voting platform that can gain transparency into elections, without compromising voter privacy, will ensure that election results are accurate. Follow My Vote is accomplishing this by using blockchain technology and elliptic curve cryptography to build an open-source platform that is secure and truly verifiable from end to end.”

– Follow My Vote