Discussions about the initial results of the “Defining and Building the Metaverse” initiative were addressed by heavyweights in the Web3 industry at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
WEF: Building a Metaverse for everyone
The metaverse has gained popularity inside and beyond the Web3 community over the past year. Despite the general chaos in the decentralized space, development in the metaverse has continued to be strong.
At the WEF 2023 in Davos, Switzerland, the metaverse is actually a big topic of discussion. On January 18, the WEF held a press conference for its initiative. The World Economic Forum has been working on this initiative, which was launched in May during their annual meeting. The initiative “Defining and Building the Metaverse” has over 150 people working on it.
Drawing attention to the project’s first two new papers, the WEF panel noted they address “interoperability in the metaverse” and “demystifying the consumer metaverse experience.”
Metaverse: Ongoing digital transformation
Being the first panelist to speak at the event, Cathy Li, Head of Media, Entertainment, and Sport and Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, noted that the metaverse will offer lots of new opportunities, but that governance and value creation are the two crucial concerns that must be understood for a digital reality that is advantageous to users.
According to Li, all the current research work and advancements now being made in the metaverse should not be considered an “end state.” Instead, it should be viewed as an “ongoing digital transformation” of how people interact with virtual reality. She noted that humans need to remain at the center of the metaverse’s design.
Another of the panelists, Huda Al Hashimi, who serves as the UAE’s deputy minister of cabinet affairs for strategic affairs and is also a member of the steering committee, described the metaverse’s future as a place to dismantle social boundaries and avoid repeating old problems.
“There is tremendous economic and societal value in this.” “But if it is unregulated, then there might be some issues with privacy, safety, and security.”
She added that there’s a need to stop the reproduction of physical spaces in the metaverse.
“We have to ask ourselves why we are still stuck in the domains we want to break through.” “We believe that a breakthrough will happen.”
Hashimi claims that the project’s concept has redefined the role of regulators, especially with regard to how governmental entities establish their presence in virtual reality.
“We also see that regulators will be acting more like referees rather than gatekeepers. “And that code of conduct will actually take precedence over formulating policies.”
Governments from all across the world are researching the metaverse. One of the UAE’s many endeavors in virtual reality is the launch of a government-backed metaverse metropolis. Also, the Norwegian government has established metaverse branches.
Interoperability in the Metaverse: what it is and why it matters
Speaking on interoperability Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, stated that digital property is essential for the interoperability required in the metaverse’s future development. He noted that:
“At the foundation, if you don’t have judicial property rights, then you can’t actually have digital freedom, the freedom to transact because it’s always permissioned. So I think that this lies at the foundation of making interoperability benefit everyone.”
All the panelists discussed interoperability and user data protection in the metaverse in addition to governance concepts. The three panelists also shared a similar five-year outlook for the metaverse, which Cathy said would include more clarity and transparency in governance frameworks and integration into most people’s daily lives.
Huda noted that we have to evolve with the technology around us and that “the metaverse will be part of our lives whether we like it or not.”
Yat concluded by emphasizing that the metaverse will likely soon have produced new economies as well, some of which may be on a national scale.