In a landmark decision that will reshape global metaverse governance, the International Telecommunication Union's Focus Group on Metaverse (ITU FG-MV) has officially approved Radia Funna's "Framework for Metaverse Participation" at its March 2024 session. This revolutionary framework, developed by Funna as Co-Chair of WG1 and CEO of Build n Blaze, introduces breakthrough concepts that fundamentally transform how we understand and regulate participation in virtual environments.

Defining the Future of Virtual World Engagement

The approved framework, documented in FGMV-24, establishes the world's first comprehensive model for understanding user engagement across virtual environments. Funna's innovation introduces three groundbreaking participation paradigms that provide unprecedented clarity for developers, policymakers, and users navigating the complex metaverse landscape:

1. Intra-metaverse: Full participation occurring entirely within a single metaverse platform or ecosystem—establishing standards for complete immersive engagement
2. Peri-metaverse: Hybrid interactions spanning both virtual and physical realms, encompassing digital and merged digital-physical experiences—bridging the gap between virtual and real-world activities
3. Off-world: Addressing participant absence from virtual environments while maintaining connection to prior "in-world" presence—ensuring continuity of digital identity and assets

Protecting Digital Personhood

The framework's most significant contribution lies in its "Personhood in Immersive Contexts" provisions, which establishes how personal identity and digital existence are protected in virtual and physical-digital (phygital) merged spaces. This ensures a one-to-one relationship between users and their virtual representations, creating unprecedented protections for digital identity and virtual assets.

Setting Global Standards Through Innovation

"This framework provides the essential foundation for understanding the sophisticated ways individuals engage with virtual worlds," Funna explained during the ITU approval session. "By establishing clear definitions for these concepts, we enable better governance of privacy, security, and ethical conduct across diverse metaverse platforms—creating a safer, more inclusive virtual future for all users."

The approval represents a critical milestone in international metaverse standardization, providing developers, regulators, and organizations with a unified language and conceptual framework for addressing the complexities of virtual world participation. This standardization is essential as metaverse technologies rapidly scale across industries, from education and healthcare to commerce and entertainment.

Global Impact and Implementation

ITU's approval of Funna's framework marks a transformative moment in virtual world governance, offering stakeholders worldwide a common foundation for policy development and technical standards in the rapidly evolving metaverse landscape. The framework directly supports privacy protection, security enhancement, and ethical technology development across all virtual platforms.

"Radia Funna's pioneering work continues to define our understanding of the metaverse," noted an ITU spokesperson. "This framework will be instrumental in guiding future policy and technical standards as virtual worlds become integral to global communication, commerce, and collaboration."

Build n Blaze is the global authority in standards-driven digital transformation. Led by UN Special Advisor and global standards authority Radia Funna, we empower organizations to harness AI, metaverse, quantum, and emerging tech for sustainable, human-centered impact—ensuring innovation serves everyone, everywhere. Learn more at www.buildnblaze.com.