Experts and thought-leaders gather at Dubai Metaverse Assembly

Organised by the Dubai Future Foundation, the Dubai Metaverse Assembly started on September 28 at the Museum of the Future and AREA 2071 in Emirates Towers, Dubai. The two-day event is bringing together regional and international experts in Dubai to shape the future of the metaverse and explore its promise and potential applications.

Hosting more than 300 global experts, policymakers, thought leaders, and decision-makers from more than 40 organisations, the event explores how the revolutionary technology can be deployed across vital sectors to create a better future.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council announced the launch of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy on July 18. The strategy aims to contribute Dhs4bn to the national economy over five years, along with supporting 40,000 virtual jobs.

I attended the Dubai Metaverse Assembly at the Museum of the Future today. More than 500 global experts are in Dubai to design the future of the metaverse and explore its potential applications. Dubai remains a global hub for testing and developing future technologies pic.twitter.com/PYZq5B6HVu

— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) September 28, 2022

Many international organisations and companies participated in the assembly, including the World Economic Forum, META, Binance, MasterCard, The Sandbox, Bedu, PwC, Accenture, BCG Digital Ventures, Dubai Blockchain Center, and DeCentraland, among others.

The assembly also witnessed participations from government entities and local organisations, such as the Dubai International Financial Centre, VARA, Majid Al Futtaim, DAMAC and Dubai Digital, among others, with the aim of evaluating national projects and exchanging experiences on the Metaverse.

The sessions on the first day of the assembly saw the participation of many UAE ministers and senior officials, including Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy; Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Teleworking Applications; and Sultan bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World and the chairman of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.

HE Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and Vice Chairman of the Higher Committee for Future Technology and Digital Economy in Dubai discusses Dubai’s strategy for the Metaverse.#DubaiMetaverseAssembly pic.twitter.com/aZ9xQr3u8J

— Dubai Future Foundation (@DubaiFuture) September 28, 2022

Let’s dive into how Metaverse technology can enable people and operations to boost the resilience and sustainability of their supply chains, with none other than @ssulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, @DP_World.#DubaiMetaverseAssembly pic.twitter.com/bZ1H29CTOa

— Dubai Future Foundation (@DubaiFuture) September 28, 2022

Speakers highlighted the most prominent trends associated with designing and building the virtual worlds of the metaverse, as well as virtual training and education, e-commerce, virtual medical technology, arts, electronic games, organising events and conferences in the metaverse, and digital assets such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

On the first day, some of the insightful topics discussed were, the economic size of the metaverse opportunity, future of the new world, opportunities in virtual real estate, metaverse impact on supply chain and operations, maximising the potential of ecosystems on the metaverse, building the responsible metaverse, augmented reality and its impact, and the Dubai Metaverse Strategy.

 

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The assembly also featured specialised workshops on various future technological sectors held in the Ministry of Possibilities, Coders HQ, Government Accelerators, and Youth Hub at AREA 2071. Those workshops were organised by several global organisations such as the World Economic Forum Accenture, Emirates Airline, META, The Economist, Asiarath, Outlier Ventures, Everdome, Verse, Mastercard, Metadecrypt, MetaCon, Cryptooasis, Siapartners.

The workshops discussed topics such as accelerating value creation in the metaverse, aviation in metaverse, road to the metaverse and innovating governance, decoding metaverse, taking the leap from web 2 into the metaverse, brands in the metaverse, metaverse as a game changer, how shopping, banking, and gaming are spearheading the metaverse, immersive learning experiences in the metaverse, and venture capital for the metaverse, among other topics.

The second day of the event will discuss several other topics including diving into the metaverse by META, the future of nations in the metaverse, the role of governments in virtual worlds, opportunities in aviation, sectors impacted by the metaverse, the UAE metaverse contributors, aging in the metaverse and the building blocks for web 3.0 and the metaverse.