Speakers
Dr Jane Thomason, entrepreneur, futurist and author of Blockchain Technologies for Global Social Change
Clarisse Awamengwi, Financial Innovation Strategist
Web 3.0 has brought us big data, blockchain and decentralised finance. Web 4.0, if the buzzwords are right, will bring us a decentralised internet and blur the line between the digital and the physical. At the centre of this, they say, will be the metaverse.
What is the metaverse? That depends on who you ask. To some, it will be a souped-up version of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).
For others it will be a 3D environment that people 'inhabit' with their digital avatars, communicating with each other in real-time, a place to shop, socialise and work.
Going further still, the metaverse will have no separate platforms and no-one will control it. No proprietary devices will be required to access it. If you go online, you'll go into the metaverse, a virtual space that melds the digital and the physical.
Whichever way you choose to define the metaverse, the idea of this world where science fiction meets financial reality is not a new one, nor is it the exclusive domain of Meta, formerly known as Facebook, or Microsoft, both of which are working on their tech stacks in this space.
During this webinar hosted by our Centre for Digital Banking and Finance, our panel debated what's likely, and what sort of technology, innovation and investment the metaverse might require. They also covered how people could access it, why they might use it, and who will make money from it.
Information on our digital centre is available here https://digital.libf.ac.uk