Dubai unveils Metaverse strategy to create more than 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030
The Dubai government has announced the Dubai Metaverse Strategy which will kick-start plans to attract more than 1,000 companies in the field of blockchain and metaverse. In line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, the government plans to create more than 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030.
As per the statement, the strategy’s key pillars will be focussed on extended reality (which blends the physical and virtual worlds), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality, and digital twins (a virtual representation of an object or system).
The strategy aims at leveraging real-time data, using machine learning and IoT, and employing AI simulation and blockchain to enhance the human thinking processes. Data, network, cloud, and edge computing will be technology pillars of the metaverse strategy that focus on real-world data that is obtained, validated, stored, processed, and managed. Other pillars include promoting the full deployment of 5G networks to enable edge computing and provide on-demand computer system resources. Edge computing allows data to be collected, stored, and processed locally via smart devices and local networks instead of the cloud.
Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications, and Deputy Managing Director of the Dubai Future Foundation Metaverse Strategy, shared the importance of designing the future with new digital strategies for adopting the metaverse in vital sectors.
He also added that the metaverse would drive the UAE’s and Dubai’s efforts to provide innovative solutions, positively impact people’s lives, and transform the city into one of the smartest hubs worldwide offering new economic opportunities.
The Dubai Metaverse Strategy aims to foster innovation, enhance the metaverse’s economic contributions through R&D collaborations, and promote advanced ecosystems utilising accelerators and incubators that attract companies and projects to Dubai.
Sheikh Hamdan, Crown Prince of Dubai, said, “Dubai is making great strides in enhancing its position as a global testbed for metaverse technology while investing judiciously in building capabilities and talent in creating the region’s most robust and largest ecosystem for the metaverse community. Adopting new technologies will be a stepping stone in Dubai’s vision to use future technologies to create new work models in vital sectors and increase the metaverse’s impact on regional and global economies.”