Issue 97: The metaverse and governance
Welcome to Backstory, a weekly newsletter turning global technology shifts into a three-minute read. This week, we’re thinking about governance and the metaverse – Mary Ames, Director of Strategy
THE BIG TAKE
The Metaverse and Governance
At the World Government Summit this year, the Dubai municipality revealed ambitious plans to integrate the metaverse into its governance portfolio. While the concepts are still new and might sound esoteric, the metaverse is fast becoming a reality. Dubai is eager to be on the bleeding edge of this technology and is making clear strides to becoming the first city in the world to be in the metaverse. The metaverse, according to Arabian Business, is a network of realistic 3D digital worlds built within a virtual-reality space where people can interact with computer-generated environments and other users.
Combining forces: The metaverse is built through an interweaving of elements of social media, augmented reality, virtual reality, video games, cryptocurrencies, and other advanced technologies. A city like Dubai is the perfect nexus point for these converging technologies. This was echoed in the official announcement of Dubai’s One Human Reality metaverse project at the World Government Summit. Dubai Municipality Director General, Dawood Abdul Rahman Al Hajri said of the project that “One Human Reality is the meeting point for the integration of two worlds: the metaverse and the world we are currently living in together.” He added that “cities benefit from integrating big data. With the help of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, city leaders will be able to build a digital infrastructure enabling us to access this world in a new way.”
Solving the problems of tomorrow: Cities are growing at one of the fastest rates in human history. Internet connectivity has never been greater or more important. Cities that are preparing for the challenges of tomorrow are moving into the metaverse today. While the technology might be just getting off the ground, the rate of innovation is bound to exponentially increase in the near future. The purely human-centric city of tomorrow will have a major metaverse component. Dubai is building that before our eyes and creating a blueprint for other cities to follow.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The metaverse will be the real world in the near future.”
– Anuj Jasani, entrepreneur
OUR VIEWS THIS WEEK
Digital wellbeing: It's time to get serious about wellbeing. Let’s face it: the world is still a very tense place. The pandemic remains an ever-present threat. The global economy is up and down. Complicating matters is that we have never been more addicted to scrolling on our phones. Getting off one’s phone is much easier said than done these days, but even thirty minutes a day can make a big difference for one’s mental health. This is especially true if that screen time break happens before bed. We explore more tips and tricks in this piece published by Xische about digital health.
Aging in the digital age: Sticking with the theme of wellbeing, we just published a new piece looking at how we can strive for more purpose in our lives. Nothing inspires the human spirit more like the inevitability of aging. The famed Swiss psychologist Carl Jung transformed psychology with his ideas about the middle of our lives. Once we reach a certain halfway point, our period of long-decline stirs unavoidable emotions inside us. Read more in this piece published by Xische.
SPOTTED ELSEWHERE
The deadline cafe. Tokyo is full of novel cafes but a new one has come up with a remarkable idea. The Manuscript Writing Cafe is designed to operate as a safe haven and base for writers up against a deadline. The idea is simple. When you arrive, you inform staff how many words you need to write and how much time you have. Staff check on your progress every hour and don’t let you leave until the work is finished. This is focused on writers but we can’t help but think this concept could be expanded to a variety of remote professionals. What a great concept for Dubai.
The speed of sound: On Mars, the speed of sound is different. This recent discovery has far-reaching implications for future expeditions to the red planet. Using equipment on the Perseverance rover to study Mars' atmosphere, scientists have determined that higher-pitched sound seems to travel faster than bass notes. Due to unique properties of Mars’ atmosphere, higher-pitched sounds arrive sooner to the listener than lower ones. Fascinating!