World Economic Forum Establishes Purpose-driven Metaverse to Tackle World’s Most Pressing Challenges
- The World Economic Forum, in partnership with Accenture and Microsoft, continues its ambitious journey into the metaverse with the launch of its Global Collaboration Village
- 80 leading organizations have joined as Village Partners in the Forum’s purpose-driven metaverse to bolster more diverse global collaboration and large-scale action
- The first-ever multilateral session in the metaverse will be hosted in the Village at the Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos
- For more information on the Annual Meeting 2023, visit www.wef.ch/wef23 or use #wef23 on social media
Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 17 January 2023 – The World Economic Forum, in partnership with Accenture and Microsoft, today unveiled at its Annual Meeting 2023 a working prototype of its Global Collaboration Village, a purpose-driven metaverse where organizations can convene to learn about, create solutions for, and take action on the world’s most pressing challenges.
With partners from 80 leading organizations helping to shape the village’s development, participants from around the world joined the Forum in its first-ever interactive, multilateral session in the metaverse.
“With the Global Collaboration Village, we are creating the first public purpose-oriented application of the metaverse technology, building a true global village in the virtual space. Supported by a unique range of partners from the public and private sectors, the Village will use the frontier capabilities of the metaverse to find solutions for addressing the big issues of our time in a more open, inclusive and sustained way,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
Julie Sweet, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Accenture, added: “The metaverse will profoundly change every part of every business, bridging our physical and digital worlds, and over time will enable companies to create innovative new consumer products and services, transform their manufacturing and operations, and reimagine the way we collaborate and work.”
Brad Smith, Vice-Chair and President, Microsoft Corporation, said, “We believe the metaverse has the potential to fundamentally change the way we communicate and collaborate, overcoming limitations of the physical world to deliver enhanced connections for everyone. The Global Collaboration Village, powered by Microsoft Mesh, is a prime example of how we can use metaverse technology to bring people and communities together in new ways.”
About the Global Collaboration Village
The Global Collaboration Village harnesses the power of the metaverse to create co-presence and connection for a more diverse and physically dispersed audience. Building on the proof of concept introduced in May 2022, this innovative project, built on the mixed reality platform Microsoft Mesh, includes a set of initial immersive spaces that can be accessed by a VR headset or laptop device. These include: