'Metaverse Seoul', a public metaverse platform covering five major sectors: economy, education, taxation, administration, and communication, is unveiled

"We want to create a new continent for Seoul. We will create an attractive Seoul by accompanying citizens in Metaverse Seoul."

On the 16th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon unveiled the world's first public metaverse platform, 'Metaverse Seoul.'

Mayor Oh appeared as an avatar in 'Metaverse Seoul,' which was unveiled at a press conference held at the multipurpose hall of Seoul City Hall on this day. Mayor Oh's avatar toured various places in Metaverse Seoul and introduced administrative services that citizens can enjoy.

Metaverse Seoul is a new concept of administrative services planned in line with the daily routine of non-face-to-face contact, the development of information and communication, and the mainstreaming of the digital generation. Last year, Seoul became the first city in the world to introduce a metaverse platform in the public sector and completed the first phase of construction, unveiling it for the first time on this day.

Metaverse Seoul provides various public services through a virtual world with 'freedom, companionship, and connection' as its core values. You can freely visit the Metaverse Market Office to greet Mayor Oh and freely register your opinions on city administration through the suggestion box (connected to Seoul as you imagine) and receive responses. The city plans to implement administrative services in all areas of city administration in the Metaverse space by 2026.

Seoul City is the first city to build a public Metaverse platform to provide administrative services. Mayor Oh said, “There was a lot of discussion about whether Seoul City needs to build a separate platform. However, considering issues such as personal information protection and information security, and the sustainability of the platform, we decided to build our own platform.” He added, “Even if it takes time and initial costs, we judged that building our own platform has many advantages and is cost-effective.”

Mayor Oh cited ‘providing civil service at a different level from existing windows’ as a differentiating factor of ‘Metaverse Seoul.’ Mayor Oh said, “On the homepage, communication is done through text and does not allow for two-way communication. Video conferences have limitations due to inconveniences such as location and preparation.” He added, “In the Metaverse space, communication is done through avatars, so we can overcome the limitations of providing various civil service.” The accessibility issue for the digitally disadvantaged will be resolved through the establishment of Easy Mode in the second phase of the project starting this year. Mayor Oh said, "Metaverse is a convenient communication channel that young people, such as the MZ generation, can use without any resistance. It seems that it will take a considerable amount of time for older people to adapt. However, once Easy Mode is applied and used to some extent, I believe that even those who feel uncomfortable in the digital world will be able to use it easily. I expect that a version that is easier to use will be released as we see the level of use."

Source: 오세훈 “메타버스에 서울의 신대륙 만든다”…세계 도시 최초 ‘메타버스 서울’ 공개 - 아시아투데이 (asiatoday.co.kr)

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