Although it remains to see what shape the nascent Metaverse will take, the government of South Korea has become an early investor in it. The move can trigger other states to invest in the technology that may appear at a center stage in the future.
The investment comes under the state’s newly launched program, Digital New Deal, for investing in the technologies linked with the country’s economy. Ministry of Communication Technology and Science and Information announced plans to invest in the technology within the country area to kickstart Metaverse and create new jobs.
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Lim Hyesook, Minister of Science and ICT, leading the investment of the national fund, said the Metaverse is “an uncharted digital continent with indefinite potential” by disclosing the designated amount of 223.7 billion won ($177.1 million) to set the stage for initiation of the startups.
Per the announcement reported by CNBC, Hyesook revealed funds would be used first to launch a metropolitan level metaverse that will facilitate government services and schemes virtually for the civilians. And it could promote the use of new technology of blockchain in the neighboring countries.
Citing the possibility that other countries will follow the initiative of the South Korean government, Yugal Joshi However, a partner of the Everest Group, stated:
Some things are happening in bits and pieces but I believe this does tell you that governments are starting to take this more seriously because it’s a platform where people come together. Anything which makes people come together, it makes governments interested.
Metaverse Is Making Waves
While being a technologically aggressive nation, the interest of the South Korean government in the technology rose because the two retailer firms already have shown potential in the industry. Both companies launched the integration of Metaverse and artificial intelligence to expand their customer experience.
Notably, the nation known to be technology-conscious welcomes the nascent technology and takes proactive steps to set the stage for it. It is the same place that first used blockchain technology in the government’s offices, and similarly, other countries followed suit.
The transition of Facebook into the new Metaverse refers to a virtual reality setup involving Non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs will act as a commodity within the meta, for example, a cloth, piece of land or avatar, etc.
After the NFT’s hype in the digital era, Metaverse has gained more ground despite being quite a new concept. Giant tech firms like Google, Facebook, and Apple have shown great interest in it.
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Similarly, Metaverse has become the hot topic in the recently conducted World Economic Forum (WEF) 2022. The expert speculated that the technology could assist in various sectors, mainly for the rescue and medical operations where it becomes hard to carry out tasks in person at times; virtual reality setup can play its role very well.
Featured image from Pixabay and chart from TradingView.com