So the United Nations (UN) organization is moving onto virtual worlds in addition to our current world? It makes a kind of sense when you realize the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is a UN agency. Also, in my opinion, the UN has shown increasing interest in emerging technology and science over the last few years.
Here’s more about the UN’s interest in virtual worlds and their potential role in city life in a June 14, 2024 ITU press release (also received via email),
ITU and partners advance virtual worlds to shape future city living
First UN Virtual Worlds Day launches international effort on the CitiVerse
Geneva, 14 June 2024
A global initiative for virtual worlds to support sustainable development and enhance city life was announced today at the first UN Virtual Worlds Day at ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds – Discovering the CitiVerse will define norms and principles to guide the governance of metaverse solutions in cities for areas such as urban planning, education, and municipal services.
Led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN International Computing Centre (UNICC) and Digital Dubai, the initiative will drive capacity development, facilitate sharing of best practices, and develop a sandbox environment for cities to simulate virtual world scenarios.
“By harnessing the transformative power of virtual worlds, we can accelerate progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, [SDGs]” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “The virtual worlds initiative is an essential step on the path of metaverse innovation that can enrich the lives of people in cities around the world.”
Advancing progress on virtual worlds
UN Virtual Worlds Day highlights the transformative power of virtual worlds, including the metaverse and spatial computing, to accelerate the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The new initiative launched at the event builds on the work of ITU’s Focus Group on metaverse, which has laid the groundwork for international standards to support an open, inclusive metaverse that drives progress towards the SDGs.
Established in late 2022, the focus group has identified compelling opportunities for the metaverse to support smart cities.
In urban planning and management, city leaders could simulate their innovations before implementation at scale. A virtual city space can also advance education and training, improve access to public services, and support participatory governance.
The Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds will complement the work of ITU’s standardization expert group for the Internet of Things and smart cities and communities, ITU-T Study Group 20. It will also work alongside United for Smart Sustainable Cities, a UN initiative supported by ITU together with 19 UN partners.
The initiative rests on three pillars that will bring the CitiVerse from concept to community:
- Bringing the CitiVerse to Life: Developing expert guidance, raising awareness around CitiVerse opportunities and challenges, and developing and adopting key performance indicators.
- Connecting Cities with the Virtual and Real Worlds: Advancing cities’ integration of emerging technologies, curating CitiVerse use cases, and developing a sandbox environment and related technical tools.
- Tunneling the CitiVerse: Fostering a community of practice to encourage collaboration among cities, organizing urban problem-solving competitions, and implementing training programmes to boost CitiVerse expertise.
Virtual worlds adding real value to city life
The launch of Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds – Discovering the CitiVerse, comes alongside a new UN Executive Briefing developed by ITU, the UN Agency for Digital Technologies, together with 17 UN partners, on the relevance of virtual worlds and the metaverse to the SDGs.
The UN Executive Briefing also stresses the essential factors – such as responsible technology governance, ethical considerations, and privacy and security concerns – that need to be addressed to ensure that the benefits of virtual worlds are fully realized.
If you’re interested in finding out more about this ITU initiative, there’s the Global Initiative on Virtual Worlds – Discovering the CitiVerse webspace.
Some thoughts about Vancouver (Canada) and ‘Discovering the CitiVerse’
What follows is pure self indulgence:
I hope there’s interest from Vancouver in this initiative especially given this description from the ITU Webinars Digital Transformation Episode no. 35,
Description
The citiverse is a concept for a network of interconnected virtual worlds that are synchronized with their physical counterparts. It is envisioned as a way to create more inclusive, sustainable, and participatory cities. [emphasis mine]
Smart city initiatives have often focused on technology for its own sake, rather than on how technology can be used to improve the lives of people. This has led to some smart city projects being expensive, inefficient, and even harmful.
It is important that we develop a people-centered citiverse, which is one that uses technology to solve real-world problems and improve the quality of life for all residents. This means that people should be at the heart of the city planning and development process.
For example, smart city platforms can allow residents to submit feedback on city services or vote on proposed projects. It can also improve the quality of life for residents in a number of ways, such as by reducing traffic congestion, improving air quality, and making it easier to access essential services. Also, it can help to attract new businesses and industries to the city, and they can also help to create new jobs in the citiverse related sector.
Overall, people-centered citiverse have the potential to make cities more livable, sustainable, and equitable for all residents.…
I’m not too hopeful since Vancouver City Council (other municipalities have expressed opposition) recently voted in favour of a plan that provoked outrage over erosion of local democracy and serious concerns about the rush to build. Ostensibly, the initiative [mandated by the province of British Columbia] is intended to solve the homelessness crisis although there are doubts about the proposed solution. (If you’re curious, see this June 13, 2024 article by Elizabeth Murphy, formerly with the City of Vancouver’s housing and properties department,,for The Tyee: “Why BC’s Forced Rush to Rezone Neighbourhoods Is Wrong; The province’s push fails to promote democracy, local planning and once vibrant co-op funding.”)
Not present for the city council vote was Vancouver’s Mayor* Ken Sim who has a spotty attendance record for city council meetings, from a March 14, 2024 article by Lisa Steacy for CTV news online,
Vancouver’s mayor has been absent for nearly a third of votes at public council meetings since taking office, data shows.
The City of Vancouver’s database on voting records shows that members have voted on 777 items since being sworn in on Nov. 7, 2022. Mayor Ken Sim has been marked absent 222 times, including during the vote on one of his most significant campaign promises.
…
With a supermajority on council, the mayor’s vote isn’t needed to push forward the agenda that his ABC slate was elected on. However, Prest [Stewart Prest, a lecturer in political science at the University of British Columbia] says voting in and of itself is only a very small part of public meetings, which are opportunities for the mayor to hear feedback from constituents, debate with the opposition, and to tell the public and his colleagues where he stands on an issue and why.
…
“The mayor is still elected to represent constituents, to voice opinions and to exercise a leadership role at council. And to take that for granted, to assume other members of ABC can do it just as well in his absence, at a certain point, the question becomes: Well, why do we need Mayor Sim?” [quote from Stewart Prest]
…
Apparently, Mayor* Ken Sim was in London, England, from a June 13, 2024 article by Mike Howell for vancouverisawesome.com, Note: A link has been removed,
Council was scheduled to discuss June 11 [2024; the same day as the new rezoning/planning report was up for a vote] what a city staff report described as a “reallocation” of $80,000 from the city clerk’s department to Sim’s office budget, so he can hire an administrative assistant.
Postponement came after Coun. Peter Meiszner successfully moved a motion to defer debate to June 25. Meiszner’s rationale was that Sim was in London, England at a tech conference and would not be available to respond to questions.
…
There was a big technology conference in London, England on that date, London Tech Week June 10 -12, 2024, from the Why Attend page,
London Tech Week is the global tech ecosystem – where visionaries and entrepreneurs, investors and enterprise tech leaders come together in the right balance to accelerate the infinite cycle of tech innovation.
it’s not clear to me what value attending this event would have for the mayor of Vancouver who is not a technology entrepreneurr. For the record, Ken Sim is an accountant and the owner of a nursing business and a bagel business.
Fingers crossed, he made time to attend the’ UN Virtual Worlds Day’ on June 14, 2024 in Switzerland where they were considering issues that affect cities.
*November 25, 2024: ‘mayor’ changed to ‘Mayor’ and on November 29, 2024 another instance of ‘mayor was changed to ‘Mayor’.