The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Conducting research on application standards for industrial metaverse, urban metaverse, virtual digital humans, etc.

According to the information obtained from the Zhitong Finance APP, on September 18th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) solicited public opinions on the "Draft Proposal for the Establishment of the MIIT Metaverse Standardization Working Group." The proposal emphasizes the principle of prioritizing urgent needs and accelerating the development of foundational and general standards for metaverse terminology, reference architecture, as well as key technical standards such as metaverse identity systems, digital content generation, and cross-domain interoperability. The proposal also prioritizes the development of industry-specific application standards such as "Metaverse + Industrial Manufacturing." In the field of metaverse, including new technologies, products, formats, and models related to privacy protection, content regulation, and data security, the proposal aims to expedite research on key technologies and industrial development, and strengthen the integration and innovation with technologies in the fields of brain-computer interfaces, generative artificial intelligence, and quantum information. The proposal also includes research on application standards for industrial metaverse, urban metaverse, virtual digital humans, and more.

The original text is as follows:

Public Solicitation of Opinions on the "Draft Proposal for the Establishment of the MIIT Metaverse Standardization Working Group"

In response to the needs of industrial development and industry management, relevant units have proposed the establishment of the MIIT Metaverse Standardization Working Group. In order to further solicit opinions from all sectors of society, the draft proposal is now being made public and the deadline for feedback is October 18, 2023. If you have any different opinions, please provide feedback during the public notice period to the MIIT Science and Technology Department via email at KJBZ@miit.gov.cn (please indicate "Public Feedback on the Draft Proposal for the Establishment of the MIIT Metaverse Standardization Working Group" in the email subject).

MIIT Science and Technology Department

September 18, 2023

Draft Proposal for the Establishment of the MIIT Metaverse Standardization Working Group

Since the concept of metaverse was proposed in October 2021, governments, industries, and academia around the world have accelerated their efforts in technological research, industry promotion, and standard development. In June 2022, the International Metaverse Standardization Forum was established to carry out standardization work in related fields and promote the development of the metaverse industry through standardization. In order to expedite the standardization work of the metaverse in China, and keep pace with the international development of the metaverse, we hereby propose the establishment of the MIIT Metaverse Standardization Working Group. The specific proposal is as follows:

I. The Necessity of Conducting Metaverse Standardization Work

(A) Thoroughly implement the decision-making arrangements of the "National Standards Development Outline" and other policies regarding strengthening research on metaverse-related standards. In October 2021, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "National Standards Development Outline," which clearly stated the need to implement the leading project for new industry standardization, conduct research on standardization in emerging and future industries, formulate a batch of application-driven new standards, and cultivate and develop new formats and models. In August 2023, the MIIT, together with four other departments, issued the "Implementation Plan for the Leading Project of New Industry Standardization (2023-2035)," which clearly stated the need to carry out forward-looking layout in nine future industries, including the metaverse. In September 2023, the MIIT issued the "Three-Year Action Plan for the Innovative Development of the Metaverse Industry (2023-2025)," which further clarified the need to conduct research on the metaverse standardization roadmap, establish a standard specification system for the metaverse industry, comprehensively sort out the standardization needs of the metaverse industry chain, and promote the formulation of standards and specifications in a hierarchical and classified manner. The local government has successively introduced supportive policies to incorporate the metaverse into future industrial planning. By establishing industrial parks, supporting technological research and application cultivation, and other means, they are promoting the development of metaverse technology and industry. The metaverse is an integrated innovation of various cutting-edge technologies, which will give rise to numerous innovative business models in the digital environment and bring new opportunities for innovative development in the digital economy. Accelerating the standardization work in the metaverse field, coordinating the research on metaverse industry standard requirements and key standard development, is an important measure to implement the "National Standardization Development Outline," the "New Industry Standardization Leading Project Implementation Plan (2023-2035)," and the "Three-Year Action Plan for Innovation and Development of the Metaverse Industry (2023-2025)."

(II) Consolidating industry consensus is an important guarantee for promoting technological innovation, facilitating industrial development, and effectively managing risks. Currently, the metaverse is in a rapid development stage and faces challenges such as inconsistent understanding, non-standard applications, and prominent ethical issues. It is urgent to promote healthy and orderly development of the metaverse industry through standardization and guidance.

First, there is frequent abuse of the concept, and it is necessary to establish industry consensus through standardization. Currently, there is no consensus among academia, industry, and research institutions on the definition of the metaverse. Some capital and companies have capitalized on the popularity of the metaverse, leading to a concept that deviates from its actual value, to some extent hindering the development of the metaverse industry. Accelerating the development of basic standards such as metaverse terminology, reference architecture, as well as industry application standards in fields such as industrial manufacturing and communications, is conducive to unifying consensus among all parties, reducing redundant investment costs, and forming a joint force to promote industrial development.

Second, the technological boundaries are blurred, and it is necessary to standardize the technical content to promote application innovation and development. The metaverse involves multiple technological fields such as blockchain, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. It will be applied in various scenarios such as smart homes, smart cars, and smart factories through various terminals. With different devices and scenario-specific data formats and forms, it is necessary to clarify the technological boundaries and focus through standardization, establish the metaverse technology framework at an early stage, explore the possibility of interoperability among multiple metaverses, and facilitate identity authentication, content interaction, asset circulation, and data flow between different metaverses. In terms of applications, metaverse applications are expanding from gaming and socializing to the physical economy. It is necessary to promote application research and development through standardization and support, in order to avoid repetitive, disordered, and low-level development.

Third, security risks are prominent, and it is necessary to guide positive development through standardization. The metaverse involves the collection and analysis of users' sensitive information such as physiological data, behavior, and assets. There are various digital identities, content presentation methods, and value exchange channels. Problems such as pyramid schemes, online violence, algorithm bundling, and data misuse frequently occur, highlighting risks in ethics, data security, and information security. It is urgent to support regulation through standardization, clarify security requirements, and actively guide the positive development of the metaverse.

(III) Gathering domestic advantageous resources, strengthening international exchanges and cooperation, and enhancing China's international competitiveness in the metaverse field. Recently, domestic companies have closely followed the international development trend of the metaverse, increasing research and development investment and actively deploying metaverse applications. China has the basic conditions to carry out standardization work. It is necessary to quickly organize key domestic enterprises, research institutes, and other advantageous resources to strengthen the standardization work in the metaverse industry and promote China's excellent practices to become international standards, thereby enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of the industry. II. Organizational Plan for the Industrial and Informationization Ministry's Metaverse Standardization Working Group

(A) Feasibility of Establishment

The China Electronics Technology Standardization Institute actively organized domestic industries, closely following the development trend of metaverse technology, and supported the formulation and promotion of the "Implementation Plan for the New Industry Standardization Leading Project (2023-2035)" and the "Three-Year Action Plan for Innovative Development of the Metaverse Industry (2023-2025)". It conducted research and produced the "Exploring the Metaverse: Research and Exploration" report, and actively conducted research on metaverse standardization needs in collaboration with industry, academia, research, and application units. It proposed the direction of metaverse standardization needs, covering four aspects: basic standards, key technologies, application implementation, and technical governance. It also conducted preliminary research on key standards such as reference architecture and industrial metaverse construction specifications. Among them, the first national standard in the field of metaverse, "Metaverse Reference Architecture," has been approved and four industry standards in the metaverse field have been pre-researched. The Metaverse Working Committee (CESA MWC) was established under the China Electronics Industry Standardization Association (CESA), and the Metaverse Working Group (TC28/SG4) was established under the National Information Technology Standardization Technical Committee (TC28). At the same time, it actively promotes international standardization work, promotes the establishment of the Metaverse Study Group (IEEE MSG) in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and leads the establishment of the Joint Metaverse Standardization Evaluation Group (JSEG 15) in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

At the same time, as the domestic counterpart of ISO/IEC JTC1, the China Electronics Technology Standardization Institute has done a lot of work in international standardization work for the new generation of information technology, forming a rich experience in international standardization work and building a team of international standardization talents who understand technology, standards, and have good foreign language skills. In China, it undertakes the technical coordination of 58 IEC, ISO/IEC JTC1 TC/SC domestic technologies, such as the National Information Technology Standardization Technical Committee (SAC/TC28) and the National Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Standardization Technical Committee (SAC/TC590), as well as the secretariat work of 14 national standardization technical committees and 24 sub-technical committees of national standardization technical committees. It has won 14 national-level awards and 384 ministerial-level awards, and has the technical strength and industry influence to support the research of metaverse industry standardization. Based on this, in order to better coordinate the standardization forces in the field of metaverse, accelerate the research and application of metaverse industry standards, the China Electronics Technology Standardization Institute has applied to establish the "Industrial and Informationization Ministry's Metaverse Standardization Working Group" and undertake the responsibilities of the secretariat of the working group.

(B) Organizational Plan for Establishment

The Industrial and Informationization Ministry's Metaverse Standardization Working Group is proposed to be composed of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, and members. The specific composition is suggested as follows:

Chairman: It is proposed to invite leaders from relevant departments and bureaus of the Industrial and Informationization Ministry to serve as Chairman. Deputy Director: It is proposed to invite leaders from relevant departments, representatives of industry experts from Dolphin Research Institute and other institutions to serve.

Secretary-General: It is proposed that experts from Dolphin Research Institute be appointed.

Deputy Secretary-General: It is proposed that comrades from relevant departments or industry experts be appointed.

Members: It is proposed that experts from enterprises, research institutes, universities, and other institutions related to the metaverse industry be appointed.

Secretariat Affiliated Unit: Dolphin Research Institute.

(III) Coordination and Consistency

Currently, ISO, IEC, and ITU are studying the standardization work in the metaverse field internationally, but the international technical committee for metaverse-related standards has not been established, nor is there a corresponding domestic unit. In China, there is no technical organization for metaverse industry standardization. In order to carry out the preparatory work for the establishment of the metaverse industry standardization technical committee, communication and coordination have been conducted with the National Information Technology Standardization Technical Committee (SAC/TC28), the National Audio, Video, and Multimedia Systems and Equipment Standardization Technical Committee (SAC/TC242), the National Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology Standardization Technical Committee (SAC/TC590), and other relevant standardization technical committees. Strong support has been obtained from the relevant standardization technical committees, and a liaison system is planned to be established to strengthen cooperation with metaverse-related industry and application standardization organizations.

III. Scope of Work and Work Plan

The scope of work of the Metaverse Standardization Working Group of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology includes:

(1) Research and analyze the direction of standardization needs in the metaverse field, establish and maintain the industry standard system for the metaverse, and propose projects for the revision of industry standards in the metaverse field.

(2) Carry out the revision of industry standards in the metaverse field.

(3) Conduct preliminary research on the application standards of the metaverse in industrial manufacturing, communication, and other fields, as well as key technical standards in related fields such as digital identity and virtual digital humans.

(4) Carry out standard promotion, application promotion, and talent training in the metaverse field.

(5) Actively engage with international standardization organizations in the metaverse field, timely propose and participate in the revision of international metaverse standards.

IV. Work Plan after Establishment

(1) Strengthen top-level design of standards and clarify the standardization roadmap. Based on previous research, organize domestic stakeholders from the metaverse industry, academia, research, and application sectors to strengthen research and improvement of the standard system that reflects the typical features of the metaverse. Compile a roadmap for metaverse standardization, clarify key directions and the sequence of development, and systematically carry out the formulation of metaverse standards.

(2) Focus on industry development needs and accelerate the development of key standards. Following the principle of addressing urgent needs first, expedite the development of foundational and general standards such as metaverse terminology and reference architecture, as well as key technical standards such as metaverse identity system, digital content generation, and cross-domain interoperability. Give priority to the development of industry application standards such as "metaverse + industrial manufacturing". (Three) Strengthen the integration of cutting-edge technologies and promote pre-research on industry standards. Accelerate research on key technologies and industrial development in the field of metaverse, including privacy protection, content regulation, and data security, as well as new technologies, products, formats, and models. Enhance the integration and innovation of technologies in areas such as brain-computer interfaces, generative artificial intelligence, and quantum information.

(Four) Promote the implementation of standards and facilitate their application. Conduct research on application standards for industrial metaverse, urban metaverse, virtual digital humans, etc. Provide guidance to industry associations, standardization organizations, and technical institutions, and promote the dissemination of standards to production and user entities in the metaverse industry. Encourage companies to align with and meet standards in research and development, production, management, and other aspects, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of standard application.

(Five) Accelerate the establishment of international standards and enhance future industrial competitiveness. Encourage domestic enterprises and institutions to actively participate in international standardization activities and propose international standards based on China's advantageous technologies and abundant application scenarios. Building on the foundation of domestic metaverse industry standardization work, actively promote the establishment of metaverse standardization organizations within international standardization bodies such as ISO, IEC, and ITU, thereby enhancing the overall competitiveness of China's metaverse industry.

This article is selected from the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Edited by Xu Wenqiang from Zhitong Finance.