Stuck between two worlds : Freedom and Development in the era of the Metaverse
Challenges posed by the Internet remain unsolved
The Internet, in its current form, has expanded tremendously over the past two decades with nearly two-third of humanity online as of 2021, effectively creating a distinct virtual world. Participation in this virtual world has largely enabled development by broadening the capabilities of individuals from all backgrounds to become agents and advance development in areas ranging from financial services to government services, education, healthcare and markets. However, in many instances, the virtual world remains under the control of monopolistic power from government and businesses, often resulting in a deprivation of access to the Internet, threat to privacy and algorithmic bias.
The metaverse is set to bring new opportunities for all
Notwithstanding these persistent challenges, our society is set to experience another disruption that will bring about more complex challenges to freedom and development: an acceleration of the merger between the physical and the virtual worlds with the diffusion of the metaverse. Now, we typically think of the metaverse as a space dedicated to entertainment. While gaming remains one of the most popular use cases in the metaverse, a number...