Riyadh – A virtual panel debate on using metaverse technology in smart cities was organised by the Communications, Space, and Technology Commission of Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union.
The discussion, which was held in conjunction with the two-day virtual Global Science, Technology and Innovation Forum and started on Thursday, focused on how metaverse technology can help advance education, improve livelihoods, generate new sources of income, provide access to public and private services, foster global cooperation, foster communities, and increase civic engagement.
The United Nations Economic and Social Council sponsors the annual forum, which is described in a press release as “an opportunity to boost evidence-based policymaking, anchored in science, for designing and implementing transformations to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, which are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.”
Seizo Onoe, director of the ITU’s Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau, and Ambassador Abdulaziz Al-Wasil, permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN, started the conversation.
Al-Wasil clarified the multiple goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 and its adoption of contemporary technology, including metaverse technology. He listed a number of activities the Kingdom has organised to encourage the use of this technology, particularly in smart cities.
He emphasised that the Kingdom and ITU are collaborating closely to converge visions and standards for the application of metaverse technology and to hasten the accomplishment of the SDGs.
The Kingdom has made progress in the areas of digital transformation and smart cities, according to Moaz bin Sulaiman Al-Rumaih, director of the CST’s international negotiation department. He highlighted the successes of the Kingdom’s telecommunications sector, which is represented by the commission, and the CST’s effective collaboration with a number of international organisations.
