The Shanghai government has proposed a set of guidelines to support the transition to a metaverse powerhouse. This action plan defines each of the technologies that the municipality should focus on in order to achieve its goal of building a $52 billion metaverse economy, while at the same time helping to establish 10 innovative companies in the region.
Shanghai Develops Metaverse Development Plan
Metaverse is emerging as a technology of interest to major countries and cities around the world. Shanghai, China’s largest city by population, has released adocumentpresenting its plans to become an important center of metaverse industrial activity. One of the main goals of this focus is to grow a $52 billion metaverse cluster in the city.
To this end, the city plans to house at least 10 innovative leading companies in the metaverse industry and 100 companies presenting metaverse-related technologies, all with international reach. The document proposes a series of tasks to achieve this goal, which include adding digital elements to different activities and sectors, such as virtual business presence, education through virtual reality, tourism and entertainment with virtual elements, etc.
Investing in the Metaverse
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Although the issued document does not directly specify how much the city plans to invest in order to reach the desired goal, the government has established a series of special funds to support the metaverse industry and and mentions that it must support technological research and development by providing incentives such as investment subsidies and interest rate discounts in accordance with the law and regulations.
The document also mentions a series of technologies, such as display and processor technology, as part of the core technologies that should be advanced to achieve a better metaverse in the future. Similarly, data transmission technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence are mentioned in the plan.
Other countries are also interested in the concept of metaverse, with South Korea presenting a plan to invest $177 million in metaverse-related projects as part of its Digital New Deal, a national plan to modernize the country. Dubai is also in the process of converting its government into a metaverse so that its citizens can experience a virtual reality government.
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