Page 19 - Executive briefing on the metaverse
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Executive briefing on the metaverse
Figure 9: Open and interoperable metaverse
7 The role of ITU
ITU provides a unique collaborative platform to bring together experts from 193 Member States,
as well as more than 900 companies, research institutes and international organizations. ITU
works with its members around the world to support them with capacity building, opportunities
for dialogue, as well as through leadership and policy and standards guidance.
As the UN specialized agency for digital technologies, ITU – with its unique membership of
governments, industry and academia – is mobilizing the digital community to bring all voices
to the table, as we start to explore the role of open and inclusive standards in creating a better
metaverse experience for all.
In December 2022, the ITU membership unanimously established a new Focus Group on
metaverse (FG-MV) that offers an international platform to start laying the groundwork for
international standards that can help create an underlying technology and business ecosystem
that encourages market entry, innovation, and cost efficiency in a sector expected by some
industry analysts to grow to a value of nearly USD 800 billion by 2024, according to Bloomberg
Intelligence. 26
Some other standards development organizations and industry forums have also started work to
consider the impact and opportunities of the metaverse. The ITU-T Focus Group on metaverse
is already collaborating closely with the European Commission, Metaverse Standards Forum
and the World Metaverse Council, among others, thus contributing to the development of the
highest quality interoperable international metaverse standards.
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