The First in the Middle East
Dubai is going to set a milestone by being the first Middle Eastern Country to launch a Metaverse Strategy. This would not come as a surprise since Hungarian business Brokerchooser chose the United Arab Emirates as the fourth most interesting country in the metaverse worldwide. Adding to that, as an initial step, the UAE Ministry of Economy will present its third address, this time in the metaverse.
In a notion approved by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai’s Higher Committee of Future Technology Development and Digital Economy, the new phase of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy will boost the digital economy and take steps to make it easier to use the metaverse and new technologies in the future.
For those who are unaware, a metaverse is a futuristic digital world, where people can use their digital avatars to immerse themselves in virtual and augmented versions of reality and blockchain.
The Dubai Metaverse Strategy intends to make the Emirate one of the top ten metaverse economies in the world as well as a global center for the metaverse community. The emphasis is on expanding on Dubai’s achievement of drawing more than 1,000 blockchain and metaverse companies.
It is presented to encourage the growth of Web3 technology and its applications for new governmental work patterns and growth in important industries like tourism, education, retail, remote work, healthcare, etc. The approach also aims to create global standards for creating safe and secure platforms for users, as well as metaverse infrastructure and legislation to hasten the adoption of these technologies.
Plenty of Job Opportunities
The plan helps Dubai achieve its goal of creating over 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030. This is anticipated to promote the UAE government’s objective of five times as many blockchain businesses as there are currently and help Dubai’s economy grow even further.
As Sheikh Hamdan stated at the launch in July, “Dubai Metaverse Strategy aims to foster innovation in new technology. Dubai is home to over 1,000 companies operating in the metaverse and blockchain sector, which contributes $500m to our national economy.”
Tourism, Education, Government services, and Retail & Real Estate are the four industries that the Dubai Metaverse Strategy will be focusing on.
According to Emirati minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, they are ‘setting up’ a digital service location that will ‘offer the full experience’.
Dubai Metaverse Assembly
The Museum of the Future and AREA 2071 at the Emirates Towers in Dubai hosted the first-ever Dubai Metaverse Assembly on September 28, 2022. It was estimated that more than 15 initiatives and strategies were launched over the course of the two-day event. Leading companies and government entities used the platform to make major announcements of their expansion into the metaverse.
At the assembly, launched by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of Dubai’s Executive Council, and Chairman of DFF’s Board of Trustees, more than 500 global experts and over 40 specialist organizations discussed, explored and shaped the future of the metaverse.
The World Economic Forum, META, Binance, MasterCard, The Sandbox, Bedu, PwC, Accenture, BCG Digital Ventures, Dubai Blockchain Center, and DeCentraland, among many other international organizations and businesses, attended the assembly, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM).
In 2023, Dubai Metaverse Assembly will return after its outstanding debut year on October 11-12. As a larger and more immersive experience, the city’s decision to harness the metaverse for its assembly reflects its confidence in the future of the emerging virtual worlds that will transform the way humans live, work, and interact. The metaverse concept has been a powerful tool for reinventing old technology, understanding new technology’s benefits, and capturing people’s imaginations. Were we about to experience a paradigm shift? Let’s wait and see.
