Web3 - Governance

Firstly I want to say thank you to Daniel (https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/daniel-van-der-waals/) for inviting me to join the roundtable on Governance. Ahead of the conversation, I captured some thoughts, through conversations, so I thought I would share them.

Prior to attending the event, I posted on LinkedIn about the event and I reminded everyone that I would be at my computer - but that they would only see me as my avatar.? The only real difference between me in person and my avatar is that I chose purple hair for my avatar - and that is a conversation for another day. What I did hare with people prior to the event was that I see my avatar as me, as an extension of me, my digital personality and I feel as comfortable being present as an avatar at the roundtable as I did/do in the physical world at round tables.

Whilst it was my first time as an Avatar in AltspaceVR - attending as a panel member - I have had the opportunity to experience virtual spaces and avatars before.? In fact, I spent a bit of time in virtual spaces helping others think through how they could use virtual space for many things including:

• Training workshops
• Therapeutic interventions
• Support groups
• Social settings?

?I mention this because in all the conversations I had, in the virtual space, the issue of governance always came up.?It was generally given as the main reason why the virtual space could not be used for things other than social fun games. I think it was more because many of those I was speaking with had never entered the virtual world or had only seen it in the world of games etc.? If you have not been into the virtual world it can have a big impact on how you see its use/value for bringing together professionals to train together, explore issues together and support each other.??

?How we see new ideas, including technology, is often related to our personal style - for instance, are we are a half glass full or empty kind of person.? When I was talking about all things virtual what I noticed was that there was a tendency to see the reason why it won't work first.? A natural human reaction, I believe.??

?Two years on, and a whole COVID pandemic later, I still see a lot of the same questions and apprehension about the use of virtual spaces.? Because of this, I think it is imperative that we have lots of conversations about governance and its importance so that we help people learn to normalise the use of virtual reality spaces.? What I mean is if we want to see an increase in the way virtual spaces are used in the wider world we need to help the people be more comfortable with the virtual space.??And what I do know, through my years of leading people, is that humans are comfortable when they understand what the rules of engagement are.? The what and how of things.?

It has become clear that as important as governance is in our physical world it is equally vital in our virtual world and the entire ecosystem of Web3.?

I think it is important for us to help people understand the Metaverse as an evolution of our physical world, not a fantasy, not a place in which you can lie about yourself or do things without consequences. The Metaverse is the next step of our human evolution, That’s why governance is so important. If we want the world to welcome, play and work more in the Metaverse - our virtual space within our current world, but full of possibilities to make it better - we need to help everyone to see that it is safe and that they will be protected.??

I like to think about governance from the user perspective.? For instance:?

• Parents would want to know their child/young person is going to be safe.
• An employer wants to know that their employees are going to be safe
• A user (customer of the metaverse) will want to know they are going to be safe.?

When I mention safety - I’m talking about safety across many domains:?

1. ?Human verification - the concept of meeting people as an avatar - what practices are in place to help me know it is safe to meet people?? In other words, do I have any warranty that the avatar truly represents another human being, or is it a bot???
2. Fair and equal - the metaverse reduces bias or exacerbates it (freedom of expression).? I've been running a poll - a few more days to go but the current voting stands at:

• LinkedIn is running at 22% yes reduce bais, 45% no exacerbate it and 33% undecided.?
• Twitter is running at 40% yes reduce it, 23.3% no exacerbate it and 36.7% undecided

1. Inclusion - the Metaverse operates for everyone.
2. Data protection - how is my data going to be used (Anonymity - is it a good or bad thing), is my data being sold - who benefits from it sale??
3. Identity protection - am I vulnerable to exposure.
4. ?DNA - who owns it when it is in the Metaverse. Can I disappear from the Metaverse if it runs over blockchains? Is there any way back? Should it be a way back?
5. ?Financial safety - how will my money be safe, in the short and long term??
6. ?AI - where do one start and the other stop.

?These issues - as well as others, our interaction with the natural environment being one much talked about currently are above all and in the first place ethical issues.?

?I think we need to be asking ourselves - do we need new solutions to the issues of governance that we are all now raising - or do we already have an array of legislation policies and procedures that we can apply to the new ecosystem???

?Maybe those policies and procedures that have worked well in the current physical world should not be replaced just because Metaverse is a digital environment many of them are common.?

?If we want to be THE same person in THE Metaverse our moral/ethical rules should not be different (as long as the digital environment allows that). I am sure there will be situations for which new rules are needed, but I am also sure that most of THE principles we currently apply to physical situations can be analogically applied to metaverse situations.

This is not the end - it is indeed only early days into the conversation on Governance.