Metaverse: What opportunities does it provide UAE businesses?

NexChange Group will host the UAE’s first-ever ‘MetaWeek’ in Dubai from March 7th to March 10th, 2022. A week-long event will include a variety of side events covering the year’s most talked-about digital topics. Juwan Lee, Founder and Chairman of NexChange Group, was interviewed by TECHx to discover more about the Metaverse space. Take a look at the responses we received.

TECHx: How would you explain Metaverse to our readers in simple terms?

Juwan: Metaverse is an immersive online realm for people to interact, work, attend events, create communities, and govern them, use digital IDs, buy, and sell goods and lands, create digital art and NFTs, play games, invest in digital assets. Metaverses have their backbone based on blockchain and AR/VR technology, also scaling decentralized finance.

TECHx: What are the current investment trends in Metaverse? Can you identify a few brands that invest in this space?

Juwan: Investment flow is currently growing in the region. For example, in Abu Dhabi, regulated asset managers recently announced that they would open an investment portfolio for metaverses. VCs are actively investing in the GameFi sector. UAE based Blockchain Enabled HyperSpace has raised $11m in equity and development seed funding for the goal of launching two entertainment parks in Dubai UAE in the second half of 2022. 

TECHx: What kinds of prospects does the metaverse provide to businesses in the UAE?

Juwan: Regional interest and passion for adopting and applying cutting edge technologies has been increasing over the past few years. In line with UAE’s digital innovation and transformation strategies, businesses are keen on expanding their outreach and user experiences not only geographically but also virtually – and this is where metaverse comes to the spotlight. UAE can secure their position as a global and regional hub with metaverse opportunities, combining advantages that DeFi, GameFi, NFTs, DAOs bring to the table.

TECHx: Considering the increased number of cybercrimes, how safe is Metaverse?

Juwan: When it comes to augmented reality, or unlimited storage of data, it’s all about harvesting information as a main power. Privacy remains one of the biggest challenges for any metaverse company. The more mature metaverses become, the more strict governance they need in order to maintain every user’s privacy. We all know that technology often gets way ahead of regulators and international protection laws. For metaverse community means everything – eventually high security standards will be established and adopted.

TECHx: What role can UAE government play in supporting digital rights and digital safety for organizations within the Metaverse?

Juwan: Most probably, it will be based on infrastructure, technological advancement, and strong alignment with investors’ protection.

TECHx: NFTs and Metaverse – how do they relate?

Juwan: NFTs are the key to understanding asset flow within the Metaverse. They represent basically any item – from an art piece to a piece of land – that has a digital representation in the form of a token. This token is unique and can be purchased for digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Sometimes NFTs serve as rewards, or entry tickets, or valuable collectibles.

TECHx: The upcoming ‘MetaWeek’ in March will feature a variety of events, but what should we expect?

TECHx: Alongside Metaverse, other applications of blockchain will be covered during MetaWeek. During the 2-day summit we will cover the most discussed topics of the year: Metaverse prospects, NFTs creation and marketing, blockchain applications and development, DeFi market nuances, investment strategies, security challenges, and many more. MetaWeek’s activities include NFT Artists and Music performances, NFT art exhibitions & showcases, etc. A special Women-led Digital Art Collection will be on display at MetaWeek site, featuring female artists from around the world. The new Metaverse song from a top independent artist Paris, whose video “Together” hit over 22 million views on Youtube, will be premiered during MetaWeek. All attendees will be able to retrieve a special collection of up to 5 exclusive 3D gifts for real world and metaverses.