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Why the metaverse matters Navigating trends and future disruptions
Why the metaverse matters Navigating trends and future disruptions

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The term “metaverse” may sound cutting-edge, but it’s hardly a new concept. For years, gamers have used online personas and virtual interactions to immerse themselves in hyper-realistic, three-dimensional worlds created by entertainment companies—these digital presences constitute the metaverse.

So, what’s different now and why should the metaverse matter to corporations? Advanced technology has been providing the means to erase the lines between the physical and digital. And as we spend more and more time on digital platforms, whether working from home, playing games, or paying bills, we are participating in an evolving metaverse. It is seen as an evolution which is increasingly essential means to connect, transact, and collaborate across
consumer, industrial, and enterprise applications.

These metaverses will probably exist somewhere on the spectrum between the centralized, socially-focused Web 2.0 platforms and the decentralized Web 3.0 environments, especially as established Web 2.0 enterprises keep their services relevant by adopting elements of the emerging Web 3.0 playbook like reliance on the blockchain, cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and decentralized
finance (DeFi).

The blended experience is best exemplified by Meta—formerly Facebook—which is building a metaverse that incorporates decentralized features while maintaining centralized control of the community and data. For most individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises, great opportunity is seen in the metaverses built exclusively with the inherent democratization of decentralized Web 3.0 technologies. These virtual communities encourage innovation by shifting the focus from competition to cooperation. In this pure Web 3.0 model, every participant—ranging from customers and competitors to prosumers and entrepreneurs—becomes a stakeholder who shares in the value created by a metaverse.

Unlike Web 2.0 approaches—with first mover advantages underpinned by network effects—Web 3.0 is characterized by the last mover paradigm: Once an open ecosystem governed by its community reaches a tipping point, there are no moves to compete with that.

Especially in a true Web 3.0 environment, the metaverse serves many practical purposes, including:

  • Consumers: Giving consumers greater control of their personal data and ownership of the value they create through their participation in a community. They can also join a virtual economy by trading NFTs, or deeds of ownership, for digital assets including artwork.

  • Industries: Enabling industries to monitor and optimize supply chains—quickly identifying and resolving any problem. They can also create digitals twins for factories that anticipate equipment failure and order preemptive maintenance.

  • Enterprises: Freeing enterprises from traditional workspace models with a skills-based “talent cloud” marketplace that matches talent with internal or external projects anywhere in the world. They can also reskill and upskill workforces with virtual education that replicates hands-on training sessions.

Just as consumers embraced their role as content creators in Web 2.0’s social media channels, they’re also likely to expect the heightened interactivity and empowerment of a Web 3.0 metaverse—which can also support corporate initiatives such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) by using avatars and other alternative forms of identity to avoid common human biases associated with language, racism, and mannerisms in candidate selection.

In an Indian context, we believe the metaverse offers innumerable business and societal opportunities:

  • Supply-side: The Government of India is setting up a task force to promote animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AGVC)—with private sector participation, we believe this can accelerate a supply-side, creativeskills ecosystem that’s required to imagine the many possibilities of the metaverse.

  • Demand-side: Indian IT and BPS companies already provide software as a service (SaaS) and manage many business-critical applications for Fortune 500 companies and public services systems. With advancements in technologies such as 5G/6G, extended reality (XR), haptics, exoskeletons, and simulation intelligence—along with the metaverse—it will be possible for Indian companies to provide hardware engineering services for global clients. A technician in India will be able to fix an automobile or control a robot in other parts of the world, for example, or Indian caregivers and wellness counselors will use healthcare avatars to provide mental   health and bereavement therapy services.

But how should organizations address the metaverse?

  • Craft a metaverse strategy that supports the organization’s broader business strategy

  • Build capabilities around Web 3.0 technologies like blockchain or cloud and closely track any players that are accelerating their use to advance metaverse solutions

  • Create use cases by lifting and shifting enterprise user applications into metaverse approaches

  • Explore opportunities to reach new customer segments and open new revenue streams by better understanding metaverse communication channels

  • Engage thoughtfully with metaverse users without disrupting their experience

  • Collect data to enhance personalization and design better customer journeys within the metaverse

As with the adoption of any new technology, it’s important to approach the metaverse with curiosity and caution carefully choosing a target audience, identifying new applications, planning an entry, and keeping a close eye on the competition.

Dr. Nita Sarang

Author
Dr. Nita Sarang (Research & Innovation, Head, Insights & Foresight, TCS)

The author wishes to acknowledge contributions from Mr. Parthasarathi.V (Domain Consultant, Research and Innovation - Insights and Foresight, TCS) and Mr. David Kish (Ecosystem Advisor, Future of Business, TCS)


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