H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, and Chairman of Dubai’s Higher Committee of Future Technology Development and Digital Economy, has approved the new phase of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, which aims to enhance the digital economy and implement measures to empower the use of the metaverse and future technologies.

The new phase of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy was approved at the first meeting of the Higher Committee of Future Technology Development and Digital Economy.

The meeting was attended by the members of the Committee including Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, Chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and Vice Chairman of the Committee; Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director-General of Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism; Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director-General of the Dubai Digital Authority; Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation; Ahmed bin Byat, Vice Chairman of the Board of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy; Malek Al Malek, Director-General of the Dubai Development Authority and Group CEO of TECOM Group; Arif Amiri, CEO of the Dubai International Financial Centre; and Maha Al Mezaina, General Rapporteur of the Committee.

Sheikh Hamdan said that driven by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the emirate is set to become one the world’s top digital economies and a leading platform for innovations that can shape the future.

He further said, “Through this Committee, we seek to develop a new model for the development of technology and futuristic sciences with a special focus on digital technologies and the metaverse as part of our broader strategy to promote digital growth and innovation and achieve the goals of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy.”

He approved four key strategies aimed at using metaverse technologies to provide government services and a comprehensive study aimed at identifying the social benefits of introducing metaverse services that will be submitted to The Executive Council for approval.

The initiatives also seek to build the skills of talented Emiratis and create a large metaverse community in Dubai that includes metaverse companies, startups, investors and users.

The initiatives also include strategic projects featuring partnerships with private sector players and events aimed at making Dubai a hub for regional and global metaverse-related events.

Last July, Sheikh Hamdan launched the Dubai Metaverse Strategy that aims to turn the emirate into one the world’s top 10 metaverse economies as well as a global hub for the metaverse community.

The Strategy aims to build on Dubai’s achievement of attracting more than 1,000 companies in the fields of blockchain and metaverse.

It also promotes Dubai’s ambitions to support more than 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030. This is set to further boost Dubai’s economy and support the UAE government’s vision of increasing the number of blockchain companies by five times the present number.

The Committee also discussed plans to implement the Dubai Metaverse Strategy and the 100-day plan to coordinate the work of government entities and facilitate their contributions to the development of the digital economy.