The Global Multistakeholder High-Level Conference on Governance of Web 4.0 and Virtual Worlds, co-organised by the European Commission and the 2025 Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU, took place on 30 March and 1 April 2025.
Conference objectives
The conference aimed to engage high-level policymakers, technologists, academics, and community leaders to collaboratively shape governance models for Web 4.0 and virtual worlds. Discussions focused on ethical, value-driven policies, technical standardisation, and aligning governance frameworks with the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance.
Conference outcomes
The conference outcome is summarised in an outcome document, integrating both the results of the extensive stakeholder consultation preceding the conference, as well as discussions that took place during the event. The conference outcome document highlights six policy and six technical principles for the governance of Web 4.0 and virtual worlds.
The conference outcome document builds on its background materials.
The conference page also contains written contributions received from the participants of the event.
These outcomes contribute to the global discussion on key foundational principles for the governance of the emerging fourth generation of the web.
What was PPMI’s role?
PPMI (part of the Verian Group) and TNO are leading the European Commission study ‘A Space for the Metaverse – Virtual World and the Transition to Web 4.0’, assessing key developments in internet technologies and establish a foundation for global dialogue on the governance of Web 4.0 and virtual worlds. The project team prepared the conference background materials and integrated conclusions from the conference in an outcome document.
Moreover, members of the project team, Barbora Kudzmanaitė, Rūta Gabaliņa and Egidijus Barcevičius moderated discussions during the conference, including sessions on:
- Parallel session 1b: Human rights and trust in the immersive future
- Parallel session 2b: Ensuring a level playing field in Web 4.0 and virtual worlds
- Parallel session 3a: Bridging the digital divides and ensuring accessibility for Web 4.0 and virtual worlds
- Parallel session 4a: A robust multistakeholder governance for the future internet in the era of Web 4.0 and virtual worlds
Finally, project team members acted as panellists in a plenary session on the outcomes of the parallel sessions and discussion of cross-cutting issues.
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