Officials and Doctors Will Enter the Metaverse. They Will Solve Real Problems in the Virtual World.

Online communication still lags behind, and government apps are often unintuitive, create chaos, and frequently end up requiring a visit to the office anyway. All the more so, the emirate of Dubai's decision to enter the metaverse raises disbelief among many — but this may soon be how public services are used.

Dubai, the capital of the emirate and the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, is boldly entering the world of new technologies. Even today it is one of the most significant cryptocurrency hubs in the world, but its plans are far bolder. Dubai is rolling out a metaverse strategy to become one of the ten most significant economies in the virtual world. "Dubai Metaverse" is expected to create as many as 40,000 new jobs that will be provided in the virtual world. The strategy aims to boost the city's GDP by as much as four billion dollars over the next five years.

Today all eyes of metaverse enthusiasts are turning to Dubai. Of course, the emirate is wealthy enough to afford experiments. They will likely not avoid mistakes, so all the more we must draw conclusions from them so that we can introduce these solutions in our country soon, skipping many of the pitfalls of the "childhood age" — and we know perfectly well that in the United Kingdom we have a lot to do when it comes to public services and making them available online – notes Michał Jeska, CEO of oyou.me, a social platform connecting creators, fans and business people, which uses Internet 3.0 solutions such as big data analysis, blockchain technologies and NFTs.

Will Augmented Reality Replace the Stethoscope?

Will Augmented Reality Replace the Stethoscope?

As part of the strategy, Dubai intends to move some government departments into the metaverse, and that is where residents of the emirate will handle their affairs. The plan also includes creating a new model of operations in tourism, education, moving part of retail trade, but also creating a new dimension for healthcare and the legal sector.

It is particularly worth paying attention to the possibilities of augmented reality (AR) technology. A virtual official will have many tools at their disposal during a conversation with a stakeholder. They can display a video, a chart, explain something on a virtual whiteboard. The conversation itself also unfolds differently. An avatar can reflect emotions to a greater extent, and understanding non-verbal communication can speed up getting things done – says Michał Jeska of oyou.me.

Dubai Bets on Education

Dubai Bets on Education

Before officials in Dubai move into the virtual world, the emirate must invest. In addition to the aforementioned 40,000 new jobs related to the metaverse, Dubai's authorities want to focus their efforts on solutions based on artificial intelligence and Internet 3.0, and consequently, full deployment of the 5G network will be necessary. The "Dubai Metaverse" strategy will include research and development cooperation, which in the first stage is to attract companies and projects from abroad, as well as provide support in metaverse education aimed at developers, content creators and users of digital platforms who want to move into the virtual world.

Activity in the metaverse gives creators new opportunities. Above all, some of them can show themselves to a wider audience for the first time. Traditional creators in particular can create copies of their works in digital form. Thanks to this, they have a chance to break free from the ossified gallery system. However, creators have legitimate doubts — they still do not know how to publish, build their personal brand, build a community or monetise content in the new virtual reality – emphasises Michał Jeska of oyou.me, which creates tools that will make it easier to navigate the metaverse, such as the oyou.ai algorithm that will help better understand audiences, and the entire platform is based on blockchain technology, so in the future it will be possible to earn from creative work through NFT tokens.

The Emirate as a Futuristic Cradle

The Emirate as a Futuristic Cradle

How Will the Metaverse and the Virtual World Change Government Offices?

Dubai is already an extremely important centre of futuristic technologies. VR and AR technologies have already created around 7,000 jobs and contributed as much as 500 million dollars to the UAE economy. Additionally, the value of venture capital and private equity funding in the metaverse reached 13 billion dollars in 2021, while sales of real estate in virtual reality exceeded 500 million dollars last year.

The largest companies in the emirate are already entering the metaverse. Emirates airline has announced it will expand its use of this technology, and Damac Group is planning to build digital cities. Since the beginning of June, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has issued or renewed virtual asset licences for several key cryptocurrency platforms such as Crypto.com, Huobi and OKX. Dubai is also the venue for the largest futuristic conferences and trade fairs, such as the annual Crypto Expo.

Summary

Dubai is consistently building its position as a leader of the virtual world — the "Dubai Metaverse" strategy assumes moving some public services into the metaverse, creating 40,000 new jobs and boosting GDP by four billion dollars. VR and AR technologies are already contributing 500 million dollars to the emirate's economy, and the value of venture capital funding in the metaverse has reached 13 billion dollars.

Experts such as Michał Jeska of oyou.me emphasise that although Dubai can afford experiments, the emirate's mistakes should be a valuable lesson for other countries — including the United Kingdom, where the digitisation of public services remains a challenge.