Roadmap for Open and Co-created Virtual Worlds: Difference between revisions
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'''Your contribution is precious, [[Talk:Roadmap for Open and Co-created Virtual Worlds|join the discussion]]!''' | '''Your contribution is precious, [[Talk:Roadmap for Open and Co-created Virtual Worlds|join the discussion]]!''' | ||
----[1] The new strategy on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds to steer the next technological transition was published on 11 July 2023. | ----[1] The [https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/eu-initiative-virtual-worlds-head-start-next-technological-transition new strategy on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds] to steer the next technological transition was published on 11 July 2023. | ||
[2 | [2] Let’s observe that there are only three different time regimes suggested here: 1) immediate and short-term engagement, for urgent results (2026-2028), 2) medium-term effects to be expected but implying to start immediately regarding actionable measures (2026-2030) and 3) longer-term effects to be expected for issues likely to stay for some time and requiring particularly tenacious efforts (2026-2035). | ||
Revision as of 10:06, 3 December 2025
The content of this page has been developed in the context of the OPENVERSE Project, in Task 2.5, lead by Inspiring Futures.
Context
Within Task 2.5, Inspiring Futures, together with OPENVERSE partners and invited experts, was asked to co-create a Roadmap for EU and Member State policy-makers on the development of virtual worlds. This roadmap is meant to support debate and future policy decisions in the context of the Digital Single Market, with a focus on strengthening the European XR / virtual world ecosystem:
- makers and designers
- service providers and community builders
- training and upskilling specialists
The text below summarises the current version 1.0 of the Roadmap, which will be refined through discussion on this wiki and at a second workshop planned for June 2026 in Brussels.
Introduction: the EU goal for virtual worlds and the Web4.0
| In July 2023, the European Commission set out its vision for Web 4.0 and virtual worlds[1]. In short, the EU aims for: |
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While this policy vision was defined in 2023, the pathway towards it (concrete actions, sequencing and responsibilities) still needed to be specified. The OPENVERSE Roadmap is a first attempt to fill that gap.
The roadmap 1.0
Based upon two years of intensive activity and the inputs of multiple collaborative insights, Inspiring Futures came up with a first Roadmap proposal, to be challenged, deep-dived and improved upon during the next six months in this Wiki space, for a format and content to be discussed in the second Workshop, planned for June 2026 in Brussels, summarised here with one visual and a table of 10 key actions. The full Deliverable supporting this succinct presentation can be found on OPENVERSE SharePoint and will be publicly accessible once the Deliverable has been officially validated.
The figures above provide a simplified view of the roadmap-making process, starting with the EU goal and backtracking to the actions that will make the roadmap valuable and to the various steps needed to increase its feasibility, detailed in the figure below. There will be a necessary interplay between the actions proposed and the steps to make them attainable, but in the end, the roadmap will have to be conceived in terms of actions and concrete expected impacts.
| Key Actions | Expected impacts | Lead/partners | Time[2] |
| KA1: Build skills for VWs, the EU as a talents’ attractor. | Substantial increase in the number of individuals capable of becoming makers, creators, brokers, counsellors, evaluators, and researchers, with significant results in the number and originality of applications for all key sectors. | EU P-makers, industry, research, MS, specific sectors (health, security). | 2026-2032 |
| KA2: Promote guiding ethical and health principles for well-being in VWs. | Documented research on mental health and related risks, with medical and legal reference increase, protection implemented and more systematically enforced, in parallel with privacy and trust increase. | EU P-makers, research, health sector, legal sector, users’ communities, education, media sector. | 2026-28 |
| KA3: Promote inspiring partnerships across sectors and boundaries. | New applications, markets, and business models should accompany the increase in numbers (users, virtual assets, communities, research output, IPTR evidence, etc.). | EU P-makers, Industry, research, health, cities, MS, financing means, XR/VW assoc. | 2026-2028 |
| KA4: Help the EU Cultural & Creative Industries and Media sector test new business models. | Creators, as individuals and in communities, can deliver high-bandwidth, scalable professional output, with or without AI. New business models should also build on PPPs, BC-related communities, and open innovation schemes as much as on classical IPR. | EU & MS, Media and culture sectors, education, financing means, XR/VW assoc., business schools. | 2026-2030 |
| KA5: Develop standards for open/interoperable virtual worlds, with sandbox options. | At least some sector progression should become measurable, and cross-use of virtual assets should become increasingly common and referenced. Pilot incentives and actions valuing XR/VW associations supported and capable of scaling. | Technology makers, industry, users’ communities, XR/VW assoc. | 2026-2030 |
| KA6: Promote AI integration and corresponding skill building for VW creativity. | Upskilling of various kinds, data stewards, ethical specialists, procurement experts, asset managers and brokers, AI creation advisors, avatar librarians, etc., should emerge in numbers. | EU P-makers, research, technology makers, designers, education, industry champions, security specialists. | 2026-2028 |
| KA7: Boost professional virtual worlds through XR/VW across sectors of excellence. | Healthcare, security, industry, and city management should at least deliver measurable performance and shareable experiences, definitely going beyond the interesting but dispersed experiments we know, i.e., towards professional ROI. | Industry, technology makers, designers, XR/VW assoc., education, EU P-makers & MS, financing means. | 2026-2032 |
| KA8: Sovereignty concerns: promote champions, and fight IPR theft, content manipulation and misinformation. | The journey is still long, but we must start somewhere. Cloud issues, chips, AI, and XR/VW makers, as well as small champions, should be encouraged with absolute priority. Misinformation, deepfakes and alternate reality narratives are challenging to fight, but new means are emerging. AI seems to represent both the problem and its solution. | EU P-makers & MS, industry, financing, legal sector, defence and security, media sector, and education. | 2026-2035 |
| KA9: Support, strengthen and inaugurate new forms of financing for VW creators. | What exists is too little known or used, but new means must also be created (some are close to launch, others still in the waiting room) to create the stimulating environment that lags so much behind our competitors. Evidence of easier access and of new financing schemes should quickly have its own metrics. | EU P-makers & MS, financing org., business schools, designers and makers. | 2026-2028 |
| KA10: Taking better care of the environmental footprint of XR/VW deployments. | So far, the environment has been mishandled (valuing distant collaboration) or not handled at all, but the digital rise is such that VWs are part of the pack, and the moment will come when there will be a price to pay. Preparing for that can bring some benefits. | EU P-makers & MS, environmental specialists, energy sector, education, research. | 2026-2035 |
What is expected from this stage of the Roadmap-making process
This Roadmap v1.0 is deliberately provisional. By making it available on the wiki, OPENVERSE expects experts and stakeholders to:
- Comment on and improve the key actions and their expected impacts.
- Suggest steps and enabling conditions that would make these actions achievable.
- Highlight blind spots or underdeveloped topics, such as:
§ How XR and virtual worlds can cross-fertilise each other in dynamic sectors (healthcare, security, education, etc.); Discuss
§ How professional virtual worlds can boost industrial productivity. Discuss
Feedback and discussion until 30 April 2026 will inform the June 2026 workshop in Brussels, which will focus on final refinements, validation and the design of uptake channels.
Your contribution is precious, join the discussion!
[1] The new strategy on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds to steer the next technological transition was published on 11 July 2023.
[2] Let’s observe that there are only three different time regimes suggested here: 1) immediate and short-term engagement, for urgent results (2026-2028), 2) medium-term effects to be expected but implying to start immediately regarding actionable measures (2026-2030) and 3) longer-term effects to be expected for issues likely to stay for some time and requiring particularly tenacious efforts (2026-2035).