At the end of October, an exploratory report was submitted to the government to understand what the metaverse is, as well as its issues, opportunities and limitations.
The report was submitted by the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak and Delegate of the Minister for Digital Transition Jean-Noël Barrot. This 115-page document, which can be consulted in its entirety on the website of the Ministry of the Economy, shows that the metaverse remains something that does not clearly cover different companies and projects.
The three authors of the report, Camille François, Adrien Basdevant and Rémi Ronfard, consulted more than 80 personalities from the tech and cultural worlds to find the best definition of the metaverse. This is not a simple task, this part covers the first 40 pages of the report. Between virtual reality, online games and the use of blockchain, the projects are so diverse that it is more accurate to speak of metaverses in the plural.
The authors still managed to agree on a definition: “A metaverse is an online service that provides access to real-time, shared and continuous 3D space simulations, where we can live together immersive experiences. »
The government’s website explains that the aim of the report is also to provide ten proposals for “developing technological infrastructure, supporting innovation, focusing on use, orchestrating regulation and considering social and environmental issues” :
- Take advantage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to move French players into the metaverse around immersive projects.
- Involve French players in the sector in negotiations on technical standards for interoperability.
- “Getting public authorities to deliver common and essential services”always with the goal of interoperability across metaverses.
- Analyze value chains to identify strategic investment areas as well as risks of loss of sovereignty or value.
- “Implement public commissions that achieve the objectives of cultural sovereignty and technological sovereignty” to create more links between technology and cultural structures.
- Adapt regulations like GDPR to the challenges of the metaverse.
- Invest in analytics tools to detect breaches.
- Invest in interdisciplinary research to create metaverse experiments that respond to societal needs (culture, health, education).
- Create a research and coordination institute in immersive arts so that researchers and artists can collaborate easily.
- Create a system to measure the environmental impact of the metaverse and explore eco-responsible solutions.
Create an environment suitable for experimentation and cooperation between researchers and artists, find strategic investment areas and adapt current digital regulations to the challenges of the metaverse, all better while being environmentally responsible and before the Olympic Games: the program is heavy and ultimately involves many ministries.