On 14 February 2023, the World Government Summit (WGS) launched a report titled “Governing the Metaverse” in collaboration with consulting firm Arthur D. Lytle.
The report publicizes the opportunities the Metaverse offers in sectors such as energy and utilities, education, healthcare and manufacturing, and towards a sustainable ecosystem to govern, drive investment solutions, authorize sections in virtual or augmented reality environments, and propose significant policy proposals.
In conjunction with the 2023 edition of WGS, the report calls on governments and regulators to address the non-centralized nature of the metaverse in Web3 technologies by developing concise standards for multi-source data and legislation.
Finding the right way forward for governance
In the area of significant new technology development, governance and regulation tend to trace the progress of the technology. Obvious examples include drone technology, where regulation is only now being implemented and, of course, the internet, where further regulation continues today. While it is inappropriate to take a passive and reactive stance on governance where the potential impacts, benefits and risks are as large as those associated with the metaverse with high stakes, governments and regulators have a role to play in steering governance collectively in the right direction. For this, government workers can start by focusing on the following priorities:
- Standards – Although it is still in the early stages, the party is leading the development of the metaverse standards – particularly the interoperability industry itself. It was suggested that the WEF (World Economic Forum), which includes representatives from many national government ministries and institutions and the business world, could act as a world government in developing metaverse standards.
- Laws and Regulations: The introduction of appropriate laws and regulations will be crucial to encourage participation and investment in the Metaverse by consumers and industry players.
- Policies and Incentives: Governments should consider where policy mechanisms and incentives are needed to develop and adopt the Metaverse. On this front, many governments are already taking action. For example – Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has become the first regulator in the world, which aspires to provide a framework for financial institutions, including banks, and state services, to operate in the Metaverse. The framework will handle 7% of global crypto transactions making it the third largest crypto market in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region.
- Infrastructure: Given that the necessary infrastructure does not currently exist, efforts to build it will be crucial to the development of the Metaverse. For the Metaverse to achieve anything close to the potential that its advocates have promised, each type of chip will likely have to be more powerful than it is today by orders of magnitude.
A verified Twitter user, “ALX,” tweets that the business tycoon Elon Musk “speaks out against the idea of a “World Government” at the “World Government Summit” and warns it could lead to civilizational collapse.
He said, “ We are going to be a little bit cautious about being too much in a single civilisation because if you are too much in a single civilisation whole things may collapse.”
What do you think will the world government govern the Metaverse nicely? It will be very interesting to see where the world government will take the Metaverse.