Marie Wieck, IBM’s general manager of blockchain, said that governments should embrace distributed ledger technology (DLT) and use it for all of their services in order to accelerate the adoption of blockchain in business.

In an interview with the Australian Financial Review at IBM’s THINK conference in Las Vegas, Wieck said that broader adoption of blockchain technology could contribute about $3.1 trillion to the global economy. She also praised Dubai for leading the world in blockchain adoption.

“There is no question that the level of blockchain activity in Dubai far exceeds just about every other place because it has made the mandate, from a government perspective, that in December of 2021 they won’t be using any paper-based systems,” Wieck said. “In order to do this, they are putting all documents on a blockchain.”

Wieck noted that governments are either fully supporting the technology and related cryptocurrencies, or entirely rejecting them. She warned that having conflicting policies in different countries risks derailing advances. Wieck, however, believes that the push from the Dubai government will have a huge network effect and will lead to all the corporations working with the government to also invest in blockchain.

Wieck added that another way to accelerate blockchain use would be for industry groups to invest in the technology and sign up their members, utilizing the already established codes of conduct and principles on data sharing within the bodies.

At the THINK conference, IBM announced four ne,w blockchain projects and initiatives, with a focus on the beta launch of the Blockchain Platform Starter Plan, which offers a cheaper alternative for startups and developers to build new projects or applications on a blockchain.

The tech giant also announced three new consulting services, ranging from advising on establishing pilots in 12 weeks, to combining blockchain with other technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Wieck believes blockchain technology will eventually affect every industry and every country. She said the only place where it doesn’t have a blockchain project under way is Antarctica.