Introduction
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) organized the 2nd ITU Forum on “Creating a metaverse for all through international standards”. The Forum took place on 7 July 2023, in Shanghai, China, in conjunction with the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC). The forum was held as a physical event with remote participation, and was kindly hosted by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) and Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Association (SAIA). The Forum was preceded by the 2nd meeting of the ITU-T Focus Group on metaverse, which took place from 4-6 July 2023, at the same venue.
The 2nd ITU Forum aimed to foster dialogue and cooperation among stakeholders to discuss the role of international standards to shape the metaverse. Key topics of discussion include: the role of standards to build an open and interoperable metaverse, industrial metaverse, and the role of enabling technologies to unleash a new era of immersive and interactive experiences. The forum encouraged the exchange of ideas, best practices, and innovative approaches to unlock the future of the metaverse in a way that benefits all individuals and societies.
The forum served as a global platform for stakeholders, including policymakers, industry leaders, experts, and academics, to discuss and collaborate on the development of international standards that can facilitate the creation of an inclusive, open, safe and interoperable metaverse.
Target audience:
Participation in the forum and the focus group meeting was open to ITU Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Academic Institutions and to any individual from a country that is a member of ITU and who wished to contribute to the work. This includes individuals who are also members of international, regional and national organizations. This forum was free of charge.
Important Notice: To physically participate in the Focus Group meeting and Forum in Shanghai all attendees need to also fill in this form to be registered for the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC). As the Focus Group meeting and Forum will take place as part of the WAIC, filling in the provided form is compulsory. This notice does not apply to virtual attendees who only need to register using the ITU website once.
Note: By registering for this event, you agree for ITU (the event organizer and data controller) to process your personal data for the organization and management of the event in accordance with the UN Personal Data Protection and Privacy Principles. The personal data you submit as part of the registration will be used by ITU for the organization, management and follow-up of the event, including managing attendance and for internal ITU administrative requirements. The event is taking place via Zoom and it will be recorded. You can read here Zoom’s privacy notice on how it processes your personal data. The event video recording will be made publicly available on ITU’s event webpage to raise awareness and promote standardization aiming at knowledge-transfer and bridging the standardization gap. For any questions or requests concerning your personal data, including your inclusion in video, you can contact ITU at tsbfgmv@itu.int.
Programme
9:00 – 9:30 Opening Ceremony
Moderator: Zhiqin Wang, Vice Dean, CAICT, China
Speakers:
- Seizo Onoe, Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU
- Shujian Fan, Deputy General Director, Science and Technology Department, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China
9:30 – 9:45 Keynote Speech
9:45 – 11:00 Session 1: Key technologies powering the metaverse
Discover the cutting-edge technologies that are poised to revolutionize the metaverse and unleash a new era of immersive and interactive experiences. In this session, we will dive into the key technologies such as generative AI, blockchain, edge computing, and AR, VR and MR that have the transformative potential to unlock the future of the metaverse.
Modeartor: Shane He, Vice-chairman, ITU Focus Group on metaverse
Speakers:
- Christina Yan Zhang, CEO, The Metaverse Institute [Presentation]
- Teppo Rantanen, Executive Director of Economic Policy, Competitiveness and Innovation, City of Tampere, Finland [Presentation]
- Paul Higgs, Vice President, Video Industry Development, Huawei [Presentation]
- Jean-Marc Seigneur, Director of the Certificate of Advanced Studies on Blockchain, DLT and dApps, University of Geneva [Presentation]
- Yong-Jick Lee, President, Center for Accessible ICT, Korea [Presentation]
- Salma Arafa, Innovation Specialist, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) [Presentation]
Questions & Answers
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break
11:30 – 13:00 Session 2: Shaping an inclusive and open metaverse: the role of standards
This session aims to highlight the critical importance of international standards in creating an open, safe, interoperable and accessible metaverse for all. This session will provide a platform to showcase the work carried out by key standards developing organizations, such as ITU, IEEE, 3GPP, IEC and ISO, that are at the forefront of shaping standardization for the metaverse, ensuring interoperability, accessibility, and seamless experiences across diverse platforms and applications.
Moderator: Cristina Bueti, Counsellor, ITU
Speakers:
- Shin-Gak Kang, Chairman, ITU Focus Group on metaverse [Presentation]
- Ming Li, Co-convenor, ISO/IEC Joint SEG – Metaverse [Presentation]
- Shuping Peng, Chair of Metaverse Side meeting, IETF [Presentation]
- Shuo Liu, Working Group Leader, CCSA TC602 WG2 [Presentation]
- Ralf Ma, Chair, Metaverse Working Group, IEEE [Presentation]
- Dennis Fu, Vice-president of China Business Development, Khronos [Presentation]
Questions & Answers
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 14:15 Keynote Speech
14:15 – 15:00 Exhibition: What’s next?: Showcase of metaverse applications
Moderator: Yuntao Wang, Deputy Chief Engineer of Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute, CAICT, China
Speakers:
- Wenjie Xiang, Co-founder, Hangzhou Lingban Technology
- Yu Cheng, Marketing planning expert, NetEase Yaotai
15:00 – 16:30 Session 3: Exploring the industrial metaverse
The session on the industrial metaverse aims to delve into the transformative potential of the metaverse within the context of the manufacturing industry and related sectors. This session will bring together industry leaders and experts to explore how the metaverse can revolutionize manufacturing processes, enhance productivity, and foster innovation.
Moderator: Radia Funna, Futurist and creator of the xHuman theory
Speakers:
- John Peng, Isoftstone Group Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer and Director of Innovation Research Institute [Presentation]
- Julien Maisonneuve, Standardisation Manager, Nokia [Presentation]
- Jie Song, Senior Engineer, State Grid, China [Presentation]
- Zhijie Li, Senior Engineer, Intelligent Research Institute, Chongqing Changan Automobile [Presentation]
- Cheng Chi, Industrial Internet and IoT research Institute, CAICT, China [Presentation]
- Jean-Dominique Coste, Senior Manager, Airbus Blue Sky [Presentation]
- Chen Zhengwei, Executive Vice President, INESA Group Smart City Institute and Chief Architect, INESA Intelligent Tech Inc.
Questions & Answers
16:30 – 16:35 Closing Remarks
- Shin-Gak Kang, Chairman, ITU Focus Group on metaverse
Related information
- Organized by: International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
- Hosted by: China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) and Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Association (SAIA)
- Date: 7 July 2023
- Venue: Zhangjiang Science Hall, Shanghai, China
- Contact: Ms Cristina Bueti (tsbfgmv@itu.int)
- Other ITU events on metaverse
Documentation and registration
- Invitation letter
- Registration
- Remote participation platform
- Video Highlights
- Photo Gallery
- Practical Information
- Deadline for Visa support letter: 20 June 2023
- Request form and necessary documents to be sent to jiajun.yao@sh-aia.com