South Korean government is one of the first to invest in the metaverse

Becoming one of the first national governments to invest in the metaverse, South Korea’s investment came under the “Digital New Deal” program, created to invest in emerging technologies.

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 into various metaverse projects.

The decision to invest in nascent metaverse technology makes South Korea one of the first national governments to do so. The investment came under the “Digital New Deal” program created to invest in emerging technologies.

The program is led by South Korea’s Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology, led by Lim Hyesook, who called the metaverse “an untapped digital continent with undefined potential”, indicating the government’s interest in taking the lead in technology. of the metaverse.

The national fund would be used for the first time to build a metro-level metaverse platform that would allow citizens to virtually access various government services, CNBC reported.

The South Korean government’s investment in metaverse projects could lead other nations to follow suit.

News of the South Korean government’s growing interest in the metaverse first came in February, when two major retailers rolled out the integration of the metaverse and artificial intelligence into their platforms to improve the customer experience.

Known for being a technologically progressive nation, South Korea 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, which set the precedent for other countries to follow.

The metaverse is a virtual reality setup with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) acting as a commodity (a piece of land, clothing, avatar, etc.). While the concept is quite new, it has generated the most hype in the cryptocurrency world after NFTs. All the major tech companies, be they Facebook, Google or even Apple, have shown great interest in the concept. Facebook has even gone so far as to change its entire branding to Meta.

The metaverse was a major topic of discussion during the just-concluded World Economic Forum 2022, where experts predicted that it would help in various fields, most notably medical and rescue operations where it sometimes becomes impossible for humans to do so. tasks personally, and a virtual reality setup can help immensely.

Source: Exam