The government of Norway started its own Web3 project after launching a tax office based on the metaverse. The move aims to connect with Generation Z and Millennials and build Web3 technologies, it announced Wednesday.
Norway’s central registry and tax authority, or Brønnøysund and Skatteetaten, respectively, made the news at the Nokios conference that it partnered with Ernst and Young (EY), one of the world’s four largest consulting firms, to open its tax office on the Metaverse platform in Decentraland.
Magnus Jones, Head of Nordic Blockchain at EY, said in a post on Wednesday that he hopes the collaboration will advance education on Web3 technologies, tax-related decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
He wrote at the time that Metaverse was a “must be present” channel and was ideal for learning purposes, adding that EY also had offices on the virtual platform.
Norway’s Brønnøysund also plans to explore Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), smart contracts and other Web3 services to build its own suite of solutions.
The news comes after the Scandinavian country began integrating the Ethereum-based Arbitrum services on a platform for unlisted companies.
We all know that narratives in this space come and go.
However, one thing that has remained constant throughout is the commitment of both the builders and users of the Ethereum community to decentralization during expansion 🏗️🧑🤝🧑
– Arbitrum (arbitrum) June 24, 2022
It also recently joined Sweden and Israel to discuss plans for a central domain digital currency (CBDC) to facilitate borderless payments with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The company said in a statement,
“We are very excited to see what the world will seek to build on top of Ethereum, and we are committed to doing our part to scale Ethereum globally.”
Metaverse Space Race Recap
This news comes as several major cities, regions, and countries step up efforts to build metaverse and Web3 tools to support citizens and those seeking consular, tourism or educational services.
Barbados was the first government Embassy launch In Decentraland, leading to global access to embassies services. The deal will also create e-Visa and Avatar services for real-time travel between spaces.
South Korea also has invested heavily in its own metaverse ambitions of $187.6 million and additional History preservation projects using spatial connections. It also launched more projects to develop hyperconnectivity and metaverse infrastructure worth $2.2 billion.
It has ambitious tech centers in Dubai and Shanghai too opened Huge metaverse plans, with the latter $52 million pledge. Both aim to advance their own set of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, extended reality (XR), 5G networking and communications, among others.
Both countries hope to compete for the top spots as a global technology hub for the world’s largest companies by around 2025.