South Korea, a nation known for its strict regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies, is betting big on the Metaverse. The government will invest more than 223.7 billion won ($177.1 million) directly in various metaverse projects.
Decision to invest in nascent Metaverse technology makes South Korea one of the first national governments to do so. The investment is part of the “Digital New Deal” program, created to invest in emerging technologies.
The program is run by the country’s Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technologies, headed by Lim Hyesook. Hyesook called the Metaverse “an uncharted digital continent with undefined potential”, indicating the government’s interest in leading Metaverse technology..
The national fund would first be used to build a metropolitan-wide Metaverse platform that would allow citizens to virtually access various government plans and services.CNBC reported.
South Korean government investment in Metaverse projects could prompt other countries to follow suit.
Reports of the South Korean government’s growing interest in the Metaverse first surfaced in February.when two major retailers launched the integration of the metaverse and artificial intelligence on their platforms to improve the customer experience.
South Korea is known for being a technologically progressive nation and has taken proactive steps to promote the nascent blockchain technology.. It was one of the first governments to introduce blockchain use cases for government offices, setting the precedent for other countries to follow.
The metaverse is a virtual reality setup with a non-fungible token that acts as a commodity (a piece of land, cloth, avatar, etc.). Although the concept is quite new, it has created quite a stir in the world of cryptocurrencies after NFTs. All the big tech companies, be it Facebook, Google or even Apple, have shown great interest in the concept. Facebook even changed its entire brand to Meta.
The metaverse was one of the main topics of discussion during the recently concluded World Economic Forum (WEF) 2022, in which experts predicted that the Metaverse would help in various fields.especially in medical and rescue operations where it is sometimes impossible for humans to carry out tasks in person, and a virtual reality setup can help tremendously.
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