The UN Virtual Worlds Day is a global event bringing together leaders, innovators, professionals, and digitalisation experts to discuss and explore the potential of virtual worlds, including artificial intelligence, the metaverse, and digital environments, as tools to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Pact for the Future, and the Global Digital Compact.

The second edition was held on 11–12 June in Turin, Italy, and was organised by 18 UN agencies, with participation from leading private-sector companies in the digital innovation field.

 This year, researcher Pilar Orero (TransMedia Catalonia) took part as a speaker in the roundtable “Transforming Global Governance: Human Rights, Equity, and Inclusion in AI-Powered Virtual Worlds.” The session addressed the social and human rights challenges arising from the rapid development of virtual worlds and AI. Topics discussed included privacy, accessibility, equity, and the digital divide. [You can watch the session here, starting at 3:20:30.]

Her participation also contributed to the group’s and the network’s standardisation work, resulting in the publication of the “Technical Report: Digital Inclusion and Accessibility – First Edition.” More information about the network’s standardisation activities can be found on our website.

In addition to roundtables and keynote talks, the UN Virtual Worlds Day hosted the awards ceremony for the 1st Citiverse Challenge, a competition celebrating innovative solutions from students and startups with projects related to smart, accessible, sustainable, equitable, fair, and inclusive cities. The prize was co-organised by the UAB (the coordinating entity of the network) alongside other United Nations agencies and universities.