As part of the Digital New Deal program, the South Korean Ministry of Science, Technology, Information and Communication plans to give a financial boost projects whose objective is to develop the metaverse. The government even plans to develop its own metaverse: the K-metaverse.
43.2 billion euros to develop new technologies in South Korea
The Digital New Deal provides $7.5 billion (i.e. the equivalent of 6.7 billion euros) to support the development of several virtual reality and artificial intelligence projects linked to the metaverse. According to the ministry, “The Digital New Deal is a national innovation project that aims to overcome the Covid-19 crisis through digitization and digitization, across the economy and society”.
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This Digital New Deal was announced in July 2021 and offers an overall envelope of 48.5 billion dollars (43.2 billion euros) to be spent on network infrastructure, the development of artificial intelligence and other technologies by 2025. This program is expected to generate 900,000 jobs in South Korea and be beneficial to the country’s economy. A strategy comparable to the France 2030 plan, unveiled by Emmanuel Macron in October 2021.
Among the projects already underway in Korea, there is in particular the implementation of a new technology whose objective is to facilitate the development of autonomous driving on South Korean roads. This will be available on 67% of national roads. The objective is to allow autonomous vehicles to constantly exchange data, to avoid collisions and to make traffic flow in major Korean cities.
The South Korean government bets on the metaverse
About 65% of the funds will be spent on data networks and artificial intelligence projects. 5.6% of spending will be devoted to the development of new digital services, such as home schooling and online medical appointments. 9% of the endowments will be devoted to the development and promotion of the metaverse and cloud services. The South Korean Ministry of Science, Technology, Information and Communication relies heavily on the metaverse.
Development programs will be put in place for startups wishing to embark on this technology. With its K-metaverse, the government even plans to establish a Korean language institute in the metaverse to introduce the country’s art and culture to foreigners and tourists. The creation of a metaverse academy made up of 40,000 industry experts is scheduled for 2026.