The Dubai government will establish a task force to monitor the latest developments in the digital economy as it seeks to capitalize on opportunities in the metaverse. The strategy aims to increase the metaverse sector’s contribution to Dubai’s economy to $4 billion by 2030, and its contribution to Dubai’s GDP to 1%.
The directives to set up the task force were issued by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance at a meeting of the Dubai Council on Thursday.
The move is part of the directives issued by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during the previous meeting of the Dubai Council wherein he directed the formation of a higher committee to supervise technological developments in the emirate.
Sheikh Hamdan noted that the committee had started work on key pillars and the objectives of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy.
The committee aims to implement metaverse technologies that can help improve the performance of resident surgeons by 230 percent and increase the productivity of engineers by 30 percent, in addition to supporting 42,000 jobs to become virtual.
During the meeting this week, Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, and Chairman of The Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy outlined how Dubai stands to benefit from the metaverse in a way that enables it to generate business opportunities beyond its physical borders.
The committee is currently working on identifying opportunities and challenges to further the development of the legislative framework that covers this sector. In addition, the committee is working on qualifying human capital to be able to leverage opportunities within the virtual world.
The metaverse combines elements of social media, augmented reality, virtual reality, video games, cryptocurrencies, and other advanced technologies.
Current estimates expect business revenues from the metaverse to grow from $180bn to $400bn by 2025.
Earlier this month, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) said it had entered the metaverse with the establishment of its Metaverse HQ, making it the first regulator to have a presence in the emerging digital space.
VARA’s MetaHQ will utilize The Sandbox platform, an Ethereum blockchain-based application that allows users to create, sell and purchase digital assets.
Earlier this week, Dubai’s Museum of the Future said that it aims to develop and launch a range of digital products on the blockchain platform, starting with its first-ever NFT collection – The Most Beautiful NFTs in the Metaverse, in collaboration with Binance NFT.
