By James McQuillan

Established less than one month ago – Dubai’s Metaverse Strategy has been tasked with increasing the contribution of the metaverse to the UAE’s overall economy. Leaving this statement as it stands would make this sound like an easy task – not so.

The committee, which is headed by Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum, is tasked with adding $4 billion to the county’s economy by 2030. In total, this would be a net contribution of 1% to the total GDP.

To do so, the committee plans to rapidly implement technologies to expand the scale of its metaverse, supporting 42,000 jobs over time. While not linked to gaming, it’s impressive to hear how the metaverse factors into a country’s plans to maximise efficiency and diversify its economy.

UAE, like other dynamic economies, has rapidly embraced new and emerging technologies. In the past, it was one of the bolder adopters of Smart Cities technology in order to boost the efficiency of its cities and local and national governments.

Dubai’s VARA Metaverse HQ
As part of its broader strategy, Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has established its Metaverse HQ within The Sandbox platform – making it one of the first regulatory entities to venture into the metaverse.

The goal is to make this a highly accessible entity for government and industry officials while boosting its overall performance.