Dubai aims to become world’s best city in virtual space

Dubai is working towards becoming the world’s best city in the virtual space with innovative services and an advanced regulatory and legislative framework.

A task force will be set up to track the latest developments in the digital economy as part of the emirate's efforts to become a key player in the virtual world.

The Dubai Metaverse Strategy is also being drawn up with the aim of increasing the metaverse sector's contribution to Dubai’s economy to USD4 billion by 2030 and raising its contribution to Dubai’s GDP to 1%.

The plans have been reviewed by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

The move is in line with the directives issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during a recent meeting of the Dubai Council.

Sheikh Mohammed had directed the formation of a higher committee to supervise technological developments in the emirate and oversee developments in the digital economy.

The committee is currently working on identifying opportunities and challenges and continuing the development of the legislative framework that covers future requirements of all sectors.

In addition, the committee is working on qualifying human capital to be able to excel in the virtual world.

Together with @MaktoumMohammed, I reviewed the latest metaverse trends and issued directives to set up a task force to explore future digital economy opportunities. Dubai leads the region in smart services and we aim to be at the forefront of the global digital sector. pic.twitter.com/0HfjVeaohF

— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) May 19, 2022

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 the emirate stands to benefit from the metaverse in a way that enables it to generate business opportunities beyond its physical borders.

The committee aims to implement metaverse technologies that can help improve the performance of resident surgeons by 230 per cent and increase the productivity of engineers by 30 per cent, in addition to supporting 42,000 jobs to become virtual.

The metaverse is a virtual-reality space where users interact with computer-generated environments and other users.

It combines elements of social media, augmented reality, virtual reality, video games, cryptocurrencies, and other advanced technologies.

Current estimates expect global business revenues from the metaverse could grow from USD180 billion to USD400 billion by 2025.