The European Union (EU) Commission is preparing to outline its vision for the metaverse and Web 4.0, aiming to establish a regulatory framework that ensures user safety and data protection. The Commission will focus on interoperability, open standards, and promoting European values in the digital space. An initiative to attract highly skilled specialists outside the EU is planned for Q3 of 2023. - Existing privacy, consumer protection, data governance, and platform regulation legislation will apply to the metaverse.
- The Digital Europe and Creative Europe programs will support the development of skills relevant to virtual world technologies.
- The Commission plans to deliver a Virtual World Toolbox for the general public in the first quarter of next year.
- For companies, the strategy highlights the EU's promising regional hubs specializing in 3D modeling, gaming, and VR.
- The Commission is exploring a new partnership to develop an industrial roadmap to invest in cutting-edge technologies, European data spaces, and the Next Generation Internet initiative.
- A critical concern for the metaverse is that Big Tech companies might create closed ecosystems, so-called walled gardens, to keep the users in.
The metaverse is "not yet set," says Micaela Mantegna, an affiliate of the Harvard Berkman Klein Center. |
