Dubai International Financial Centre has launched a metaverse platform to attract technology innovators from around the world as part of the emirate's efforts to become a hub for the metaverse.
The move is part of a "comprehensive strategy" being developed by the centre to accelerate Dubai’s status as a global metaverse leader, Dubai Media Office said in a statement on Monday.
The platform will include the creation of an accelerator programme with a dedicated physical studio for metaverse technology that will promote the development of a creator community and venture building.
It will also address policy development and legislation on open data, digital identity and company law frameworks in the metaverse.
The initiative also aims to foster the development of a metaverse community that will explore ways to enhance the experience for customers, the statement said.
"The development of the integrated DIFC Metaverse Platform will accelerate the achievements of Dubai’s aspirations in this sector," Arif Amiri, chief executive of DIFC Authority, said.
"The initiative is a natural extension of our Innovation Hub proposition.”
The metaverse is the emerging space where people, represented by avatars or three-dimensional representations, can interact in virtual worlds. It is part of Web3, the next evolutionary step of the internet, with blockchain, decentralisation, openness and greater user utility among its core components.
In July, the Dubai government unveiled the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, which aims to create 40,000 virtual jobs and add $4 billion to the emirate's economy by 2030. It also aims to attract 1,000 companies specialised in blockchain and metaverse technologies to the emirate.
In November, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, approved four key strategies aimed at using metaverse technology to provide government services and a comprehensive study aimed at identifying the social benefits of introducing metaverse services.
The initiatives aim to build the skills of Emiratis and create a large metaverse community in Dubai that includes metaverse companies, start-ups, investors and users.
They also include strategic projects featuring partnerships with private sector players and events aimed at making the emirate a hub for regional and global metaverse-related events.
DIFC's new metaverse platform is the first in a series of initiatives that aim to strengthen Dubai's position as a global platform for the latest digital trends and accelerate the pace to achieve the objectives of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, said Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, and vice chairman of the Dubai Higher Committee for Future Technology and Digital Economy.
The platform also supports the recently launched Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to generate economic value worth Dh100 billion ($27.2 billion) from digital transformation annually.
The metaverse accelerator programme, the first initiative to be launched under the platform, will start accepting applications this month, the statement said.
The programme seeks to attract more than 500 applications, identify 50 of the most promising graduates from the programme and stimulate investment opportunities that will help the sector grow.
It will run over a period of six months, during which the cohort of start-ups will be introduced to training and workshops to upskill and reskill themselves in both technical and intrapersonal aspects of the metaverse.
The programme also aims to facilitate partnerships between start-ups and corporates to create proofs-of-concept and new metaverse solutions.
It will help innovative metaverse start-ups explore partnerships, gain exposure to investors, access a regulatory sandbox and obtain marketing support, the media office said.
In November, DIFC's financial technology accelerator – DIFC FinTech Hive – hosted its annual investor day on the metaverse platform.
DIFC Fintech Hive also partnered with Dubai's biggest bank Emirates NBD to launch and co-create their own metaverse accelerator programme, which received more than 100 global applicants, the media office said.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Brief scoreline
Switzerland 0
England 0
Result: England win 6-5 on penalties
Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
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Dust storm
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- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
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Specs
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