About the author

The author is Anthony Butler.  He is currently the Chief Technology Officer for IBM in Middle East and Africa,  responsible for the public sector business in Saudi Arabia, and a global leader in blockchain.  He has been working with firms and governments around the world to help them apply emerging technologies to drive better experience, improved economic outcomes, and better governance; and works with the private sector to reimagine and reinvent their business models using technology.

Anthony was appointed by the IBM Chairman and CEO as Distinguished Engineer -- the highest technical accolade in the company – in recognition of his contribution to the fields of blockchain and cloud technologies.  He is a member of IBM's Academy of Technology; and chairs IBM's regional intellectual property development board.  He is a prolific inventor and holds multiple patents in the fields of cybersecurity, blockchain, and artificial intelligence.

Anthony has led many innovative projects including developing the national blockchain strategies for several countries, emerging technology strategies at both national and ministerial levels, and the world's first cross-border digital currency between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (Project Aber).  He has developed frameworks, assets, and intellectual property that is used globally, including novel approaches to measuring the economic impact of emerging technologies, new governance models based on blockchain (such as quadratic voting mechanisms), and many more.

He has a Masters in Engineering from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).  His thesis was on solving optimisation problems related to the scheduling of change in complex distributed systems.  

Anthony lives and works in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.  

For keynotes, consulting, questions, or anything else, he can be reached here.

All opinions expressed are the authors own.