The European Commission and the 2025 Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU are organising a Global Multistakeholder High Level Conference on the governance of Web 4.0 and Virtual Worlds, on 31 March and 1 April 2025.
Objectives
The conference aims to define the principles for the global governance of Web 4.0 and virtual worlds that are up-to-speed with the dynamics of digital spaces, ensuring transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability.
The event will bring together, from all over the world, high-level policymakers, technologists, academics, and community leaders who will collaboratively propose governance models of virtual worlds. It will focus on policy solutions for an ethical, value-driven shift to Web 4.0. and standardisation issues related to virtual worlds (including internet standards) and its technical management. Alignment of those governance frameworks with the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance will also be a salient topic of discussion.
Conference expected outcomes
The conference aims at the adoption of policy and technical recommendations for the future governance of Web 4.0 and Virtual Worlds, based on consensus at the event. These intend to serve as inspiration for forthcoming discussions such as the 20 years review of the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS+20).
Background
The conference delivers on Action 9 of the European Commission Communication “An EU initiative on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds: a head start in the next technological transition“ which was adopted in 2023. This action requires the European Commission to “engage with existing multi-stakeholder internet governance institutions to design open and interoperable virtual worlds [from Q4 2023]; and support the creation of a technical multi-stakeholder forum to address certain aspects of virtual worlds and Web 4.0 beyond the remit of existing internet governance bodies [from Q1 2024].
Tentative agenda
Day 1
| 09h30 - 10h30 | Welcome coffee |
| 10h30 - 10h45 | Welcome to the conference |
| 10h45 - 12h00 |
High Level Speakers Panel under the patronage of the Polish Presidency
Moderated by Mr. Piotr Kobielski, Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Digital Affairs, Poland |
| 12h00 - 13h00 | Presentation of the themes of the conference |
| 13h00 - 14h30 | Lunch break |
| 14h30 - 15h30 | Parallel session I (Technical Workshop and Policy Workshop) |
| 15h30 - 15h45 | Coffee break |
| 15h45 - 16h30 | Parallel session II (Technical Workshop and Policy Workshop) |
| 16h30 - 16h50 | Reflections on day 1 |
| 16h50 - 17h00 | Conclusions of day 1 by Piotr Kobielski, Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Digital Affairs, Poland |
| 19h00-21h00 | Networking Cocktail hosted by the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU |
Day 2
| 09h30 - 09h45 | Welcome and introduction to day 2 by Pearse O’Donohue, Director Future Networks, DG CNECT |
| 09h45 - 11h15 | Parallel session III (Technical Workshop and Policy Workshop) |
| 11h15 - 11h45 | Coffee break |
| 11h45 - 13h00 | Parallel session IV (Technical Workshop and Policy Workshop) |
| 13h00 - 14h30 | Lunch break |
| 14h30 - 15h30 | Plenary session on the outcomes of the policy and technical workshop and discussion of cross-cutting issues |
| 15h30 - 16h00 | Coffee break |
| 16h00 - 16h45 | Adoption of the outcome documents from the conference |
| 16h45 - 17h00 | Closing remarks |
Speakers
High Level Panel speakers
- 'Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative and member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) High-Level Leadership Panel
- Olga Cavalli, Co-founder and Director of the South School on Internet Governance (SSIG) and Dean of the National Defense Faculty of Argentina
Speakers
- Piotr Kobielski, Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Digital Affairs, Poland
- Pearse O’Donohue, Director Future Networks, DG CNECT
Members of the High-Level Committee for Web 4.0 Governance Outcome Document
- Prof. Souichirou Kozuka, Professor of Law at Gakushuin University, and chair of the "Study Group on the Utilization of Metaverse toward the Web3 Era" and the "Study Group on Realizing a Safe and Secure Metaverse", for Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan
- Carol Roach, Undersecretary Government Transformation and Digitalization, Government of Bahamas and IGF MAG Chair
- Dr. Mariette van Huijstee, Coordinator, Rathenau Institut
- Dr. Mirja Kühlewind, Master Researcher at Ericsson Research, Chair of the Internet Architecture Board
Background material
This conference will build on two main background papers which will provide insights on the principles for governing Web 4.0 and Virtual Worlds which will be discussed during the event.
These papers will be published here a few weeks before the conference.
In the meantime, if you want to participate in the consultations for the development of the background papers, read more to discover engagement opportunities.
Registrations
You can register to participate in person or online through this link by the 31st of January 2025.
Please note that registrations are not automatically accepted. They need to be confirmed by the conference organisers. You will receive all necessary information by email upon registration.
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