Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

DIFC launches metaverse platform to attract tech innovators

By Pramod Kumar
WAM
White-collar workers in banking, finance and the UAE's booming startup sector are helping to grow Dubai's economy

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has launched the “DIFC Metaverse Platform” to attract global technology innovators.

The new platform is aligned with the Dubai metaverse strategy, which aims to add $4 billion to Dubai’s GDP, DIFC said in a statement. 

The strategy aims to create 40,000 virtual jobs by 2030 and attract 1,000 companies specialised in blockchain and metaverse technologies.

The platform also supports the objective of the recently launched Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to generate annual economic value worth AED100 billion from digital transformation.

Omar Sultan Al Olama, minister of state for artificial intelligence, digital economy and remote work applications, said that the metaverse platform is the first in a series of initiatives to strengthen Dubai’s position as a global platform for the latest digital trends.

The “Metaverse Accelerator Programme”, the first initiative to be launched under the platform’s umbrella, will start accepting applications this month, the statement said.

In the coming years, the programme seeks to attract more than 500 applications, identify 50 of the most promising graduates, and stimulate investment opportunities to help the sector grow.

The programme will run over a period of six months, during which the cohort of startups will be introduced to training and workshops to upskill and reskill themselves in both technical and intrapersonal aspects of the metaverse.

Latest articles

Migrants attempting to reach Italy from Tunisia. About 270,000 so-called irregular migrants arrived in the EU via sea crossings last year

EU reveals total aid to North Africa to combat migration 

The European Union provided €673 million ($718 million) in funding to four North African countries from 2021-23 to help the quartet reduce what it calls irregular migration to the 27-member bloc, official data shows. Last year about 270,000 “irregular migrants” arrived in the EU via sea crossings, 64 percent more than in 2022. Crossings from […]

The SPA report highlighted a number of metrics as being on target, including home ownership of 53.7 percent

Third of Vision 2030 projects ‘completed’ government says

One third of 1,064 planned projects have been completed so far under the Vision 2030 economic transformation plan, the Saudi government said in its annual progress report on the reform programme.   The report also said 561 initiatives were on track, according to the state-owned Saudi Press Agency, publishing its major findings. It was not […]

Tawfik Alzaidi

Saudi director’s labour of love takes the kingdom to Cannes

For the first time a Saudi film has been selected to compete in the Cannes film festival, catapulting its little-known self-taught director into the limelight. Tawfik Alzaidi was so surprised that he’d managed to break through to the big time that he kept the news that his film Norah had been accepted for the ‘Un […]

Joby Aviation's CEO JoeBen Bevirt (2nd left) at the signing of a multilateral agreement with the three Abu Dhabi government departments

Abu Dhabi signs multiple deals to launch air taxi services in 2025

A commute from Abu Dhabi to Dubai could take only 30 minutes next year, with the introduction of air taxi services significantly slashing travel time between the emirates. The electric aircraft manufacturer Joby Aviation signed agreements this week with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport, Department of Economic Development and Department of Culture and […]