Growth Opportunities in Metaverse for Governments

The Power of Immersive Virtual World Platforms Is Revolutionizing the Provision of Public Services

This study evaluates the potential of the metaverse for governments. It analyzes the emerging growth opportunities, challenges, and evolving trends impacting Web 3.0 adoption as well as presents a series of case studies related to metaverse implementation by the public sector across the world.

Globally, governments are starting to explore how the immersive potential of the metaverse can improve their interactions with citizens and enhance the provision of public services. As the next iteration of the internet, the metaverse unlocks a wealth of opportunities for public agencies. Facilitating collaboration between government officials and subnational units; boosting tourism; augmenting citizen engagement; developing sophisticated military or healthcare simulations; and improving urban planning are examples taken from a wide range of metaverse use cases for the public sector.

The publisher defines the metaverse as an network of persistent three-dimensional (3D) realities and simulations where end users have a sense of social presence and spatial awareness and can participate in an extensive virtual economy. Users in the metaverse can interact with one another, trade media and digital assets, and create content through immersive experiences.

The World Economic Forum estimates that approximately 700 cities will develop metaverse infrastructure and leverage it for eGovernment services, tourism, and remote work by 2030.

Countries and cities such as the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Barbados, Tokyo, and Shanghai are developing digital twins or smart cities in the metaverse. Other countries such as Finland are partnering with technology vendors or research organizations and investing considerable monetary resources to develop their national metaverse plans for the medium run.

The publisher expects the interaction between governments and immersive worlds will grow substantially during the next decade. As the metaverse becomes more popular, the public sector will have to increase efforts to understand how it will impact social interactions, its consequences on the economy, and how to preserve safety and confidentiality within 3D worlds.