Telangana government turns to Metaverse to launch State’s SpaceTech Framework

Pune: When the Telangana government launches its new SpaceTech Framework next month, the event will not be held in any of the government buildings, or even a slick five-star hotel. Instead, the launchpad for its quest to make the state a one-stop destination in space technology will be the Metaverse.

The virtual event will be hosted on PartyNite Metaverse, and is probably the first ever government event to be held in the metaverse.

The event, which has been organised by the Government of Telangana, will have a space theme, where the dignitaries and the audience will be seated in clusters of spaceships. The company will create 3D avatars of the key invitees, including KT Rama Rao, Telangana’s Minister for IT and S Somanath, Chairman of ISRO.

“All of the users would be able to independently view the policy guidelines in the metaverse itself, and will also be able to take their pictures of attending in metaverse,” Rajat Ojha, CEO, Gamitronics, which has created PartyNite told ET. About 50 attendees will be part of the virtual event on PartyNIte, which would also be live streamed on Facebook, Youtube and other platforms.

Ojha said that a part of the ceremony will include recognizing the efforts of industry and government leaders, and they will be given a virtual 3D award which will be minted as a NFT (non-fungible token) and deposited into their wallets. The company will also be minting special NFTs to mark this event which will be made available for the larger public through an auction, said Ojha, the proceeds of which will be used to fund a technology driven social initiative.

Ojha said that he was in talks with another state government for another event soon. PartyNite, the metaverse platform, was formally launched in January, and has since conducted various events virtually, including a music concert and a singles night on Valentine’s Day. Ojha said that the company was seeing huge demand from brands to be associated with events being held virtually.

In the last few months, several Indian startups are creating their own metaverses where they are experimenting with hosting events and trying to get brands to advertise virtually. Events, especially around holidays or festivals are an easy hook to get new users in, and several firms have planned virtual Holi parties in the metaverse over the next few days as well.

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