The Digital Asset Lab was announced in May 2023 at the Dubai FinTech Summit, with the goal of enabling and accelerating digital asset and financial services innovation in the UAE. Within the Lab, Emirates NBD aims to collaborate with industry experts to understand how digital assets and their underlying technologies can be utilised within traditional financial services. Abdulla Qassem, group chief operating officer at Emirates NBD, states: “Digital Asset Lab is set to significantly enhance our understanding of current and emerging technologies, along with their associated risks and benefits. This valuable insight will enable us to adapt and integrate these advancements into our services effectively and securely.” He says the arrival of R3 in the Lab demonstrates the bank’s commitment to spearhead innovation in a rapidly changing financial landscape with the help of cutting-edge technology. R3 chief David Rutter says:: “Our efforts will contribute to vital initiatives centred around asset tokenisation, distributed ledger technology, and digital transformation in regulated financial markets.”