Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Image Credit: Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

Dubai: Museum of the Future in Dubai will host ‘Dubai Metaverse Assembly’ this September — a new global event that will bring together in Dubai 300 global experts and 40 institutions specialised in metaverse technologies and applications.

The global event aims to discuss how to make the most of metaverse’s promising opportunities to serve the mankind. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, said that the forum represents a global incubator for future metaverse makers.

“Metaverse is a promising digital world. We aim to harness this technology to enhance the quality of life in the UAE and across the globe,” Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed said. He highlighted that Dubai Metaverse Assembly embodies the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for the emirate to become a global hub for innovation and futuristic transformations and a key driver for digital and knowledge-based economies around the world.

Overseeing all future technological developments

The Dubai Metaverse Strategy is the first initiative of the higher committee formed under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum during the fifth meeting of the Dubai Council in May 2022.

The Museum of the Future
Dubai's Museum of the Future, with the Emirate Towers in the background. Image Credit: WAM

The committee, chaired by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, aims to oversee all future technological developments in Dubai’s digital economy and ensure that Dubai’s legislative and legal framework keeps up with the rapid developments of the digital economy and tremendous technological progress.

“We want Dubai to lead globally in adopting the technology of the future, understanding its developments, harnessing its potential, and driving change,” Sheikh Hamdan said.

The Dubai Crown Prince’s announcement of hosting Dubai Metaverse Assembly comes a day after he launched the Dubai Metaverse Strategy to turn Dubai into one the world’s top ten metaverse economies as well as a global hub for the metaverse community.

Metaverse
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More than 300 global experts to attend

Dubai Metaverse Assembly, to be organised by the DFF on September 28-29, 2022, at the Museum of the Future and Emirates Towers, will explore how the revolutionary technology can be deployed across vital sectors to create a better future and quality of life for humanity. The assembly will host more than 300 global experts, policymakers, thought leaders, and decision-makers from more than 40 organisations. Delegates will participate in sessions and workshops to take a deep dive into the metaverse, understand its impact on humanity, discuss the potential of humanising its applications, and identify the best ways to leverage opportunities across strategic sectors of countries, governments, and companies.

Global platform

The Dubai Metaverse Assembly will introduce tangible outcomes, including reports, strategies and action plans that outline the way forward for maximising the impact of the metaverse on human life in both the real and virtual worlds. This will be done through innovative workshops bringing together major companies leading the innovation in building the metaverse and its applications, in addition to metaverse policymakers and thought leaders.

Three main tracks

The assembly aims to enhance the world’s readiness to adopt and leverage the metaverse. The event will showcase real metaverse experiences in key sectors and an unprecedented experience of hosting official meetings in the metaverse.

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The event includes three main tracks: Educate, Inspire, and Contribute. These will be based on Dubai’s philosophy for designing a better future for humanity. The Educate track will consist of more than ten in-depth sessions on metaverse. Presented by several partners, the Inspire track will showcase actual use of metaverse in tourism, logistics, retail, education, and health-care sectors. The Contribute track will include workshops for metaverse foresight and use-case reviews.

Reports estimate that expenditure on virtual products in the metaverse reached $54 billion (Dh198.61 billion) in 2020, whereas, in 2021, just the NFT or non-fungible tokens market amounted to nearly $41 billion.