About
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has been at the forefront of global technology standardization for more than 160 years. With a membership of 194 member states and more than 1000 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations the ITU serves as the primary international platform for all stakeholders to work together to ensure that the metaverse can be harnessed for the benefit of all, while minimizing potential risks and promoting sustainable development.
Smart City Expo World Congress 2026 | 3–5 November | Barcelona, Spain
For the first time, ITU and UN-Habitat, in collaboration with 17 UN entities and with media support from SmartCitiesWorld, are bringing the United Nations Pavilion to Smart City Expo World Congress 2026!
Meet ministers, mayors, city leaders and experts from around the world, discover practical solutions and new publications, and explore how artificial intelligence, digital twins, virtual worlds and citiverse are shaping the next generation of smart sustainable cities.
Building open and interoperable citiverse and virtual worlds
Standardization work in ITU-T Study Group 20
Internet of Things, digital twins and smart sustainable cities and communities.
Global Initiative on AI, Digital Twins and Virtual Worlds – Discovering the Citiverse
Join our initiative exploring the transformative potential of AI-powered virtual environments worldwide.
This Blueprint presents a high-level strategic roadmap to help mayors, ministers and city leaders navigate the transformative potential of the AI-enabled citiverse. It explores how AI, digital twins, spatial intelligence and immersive technologies can be responsibly integrated to build more intelligent, resilient and human-centric urban ecosystems. It also provides strategic guidance for leadership, policy direction and cross-sector collaboration, helping cities turn emerging technological opportunities into inclusive, sustainable and future-ready urban transformation.
This Field Guide offers a practical readiness assessment and 90-day action framework to help city leaders prepare for the AI-enabled citiverse. It provides tools, checklists and evidence-based guidance to assess city readiness, identify implementation gaps, and help cities move from vision to real-world deployment of responsible, human-centric and interoperable AI-enabled citiverse solutions.
ITU-T Governance
Resolution 2 – (Rev. New Delhi, 2024) – Scope and mandate of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector study groups
Resolution 105 – (New Delhi, 2024) – Promoting and strengthening metaverse standardization
