Overview
On June 9-10, 2022, the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub (the Hub) organized the world’s first hybrid conference on how immersive technologies (including augmented, virtual and mixed reality) could affect international policies, norms and institutions. Over six hundred people registered for the event. The conference was attended by 104 people in-person and 237 people virtually. In emails, tweets, and verbal communication during and after the conference, many of the participants asked us to broaden and continue the discussion. In this document, we review the conference and make some suggestions for next steps.
Conference Objective
The Hub educates the public and policymakers about data-driven change, data governance and digital trade. To build greater understanding of the role of data governance in the regulation of data-driven technologies the Hub created a metric of comprehensive data governance which includes national strategies for data-driven technologies. We found it surprising that although XR use is increasing rapidly, no country in our 66 countries plus the EU sample, has put forward a strategy outlining how it will adopt and govern immersive technologies.
We note some governments are beginning this process.
Hub staff recognize that spatial computing technologies such as virtual reality have the potential to change how we see, interact with, and experience the world. Hence, we decided to work with a wide range of partners to create a conference to catalyze a discussion about how these technologies may affect international norms, policies, and institutions.
Conference Objective
Conference Partners
Hub staff worked to build support for the conference around the world. Speakers and partnering organizations came from Taiwan, Canada, Australia, France, and the UK, among other countries. Our partners included the civil society organizations Diplo Foundation, Friends of Europe, the World Wide Web Foundation, the Internet Society, and the Internet and Jurisdiction Policy Network; corporate partners and business associations including the XR Association, Meta Platforms, General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), inCitu, and Improbable; the US Army and US Air Force; the Ford and Minderoo Foundations; the think tanks Chatham House, CIGI, and the Center for Data Innovation and academic bodies at Indiana University and GWU among others.
Conference Content
The conference took place using a variety of formats: keynotes, overviews, demonstrations, and panel discussions. Speakers from academia, civil society, the military, the private sector, and from governments across the world discussed a wide range of topics, from national security to human rights to economic issues. Throughout the 2-day period, in-person participants could put on headsets and see variants of augmented and virtual reality demonstrated by the US Army, US Air Force, and Meta Platforms. In addition, both online and offline participants got to see how Improbable used virtual simulations to model earth shaking events. At the end of each day, we asked participants to think about what policies might encourage a more inclusive immersive digital future.
Throughout the conference, speakers outlined the many benefits of immersive technologies (which we refer to collectively as XR). As example, these technologies can help us solve complex problems, train medical students and warfighters, and provide a platform for new approaches to commerce. However, speakers also noted that by blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds, XR may force policymakers to rethink a wide range of public policies including property rights, personal data protection, and cybersecurity. Moreover, if these technologies are built on business models that undermine human rights, these technologies could also have negative spillovers for human autonomy, and democracy.
The panels and keynotes covered a wide range of legal, jurisdictional, economic, ethics, national security, human rights, equity, and trust issues.
Conference Content
13 Key
Insights
1
There is no shared definition of the metaverse (s) or immersive technologies. Some argue that it is best defined as the internet in 3 dimensions, or as spatial computing, or computer vision-enabled reality.
2
Immersive technologies could provide a global public good, for example by allowing policymakers to test responses to unanticipated events including floods or wars using digital twins.
3
No knows if the future will yield a patchwork of government organized and corporate developed metaverses. However, several participants expressed concerns that private metaverses could challenge the traditional role of the state.
4
Participants generally agreed that our current legal regime would prove flexible enough to address the challenges of the XR era. However, several participants stressed that it was naïve to think that current laws can adequately address the problems of a virtual world where the laws of physics do not apply.
5
Speakers noted that although governance traditionally lags technology, immersive technologies provide an opportunity to rethink governance of these technologies. If we want to govern this emerging technology space in an open and accountable manner, we need to develop new forms of interaction and partnership at the local, national and international levels.
6
Speakers and participants agreed that the world will need new institutions and governance models to deal with the inevitable cross-border problems that will emerge (as well as unresolved problems from today’s internet).
7
Speakers and panelists debated the economic impact of these technologies. While they are likely to yield growth and innovation, will they increase productivity and employment? One speaker wondered what is the scarce resource upon which economic transactions will be based in the metaverse? Some argued time and attention, others stressed advertising dollars and cognitive capacity.
8
9
It will not be easy to ensure that these technologies advance inclusion, especially for minorities and citizens in the developing world, who often lack basic digital infrastructure.
10
XR does not create empathy but it can help individuals better understand the perspectives of others.
11
While several firms are creating “walled gardens” for their iterations of the metaverse, there was no consensus among participants that such walled gardens represent the future of corporate models for XR .
12
Companies are taking different approaches to building and profiting from these technologies. Some may build immersive environments on the freemium business model (free services in return for use/reuse of personal data); others may use it as a platform for sales. Some participants argued that today’s business models may be supplanted by new yet unseen strategies.
13
Speakers on various panels repeated that China is leading the US and other Western countries in creating the technologies, standards and regulatory ecosystem to support immersive technologies. They also noted that the Chinese populace is comfortable with these technologies and thus China is likely to be the first nation to run a true national metaverse.