Metaverse will open new opportunities for businesses

The Metaverse concept will open up new opportunities for businesses willing to take the time to understand it, according to Schneider Electric’s Astrid Groves.

Groves, the company’s General Manger of IT and Edge, said the Metaverse has been the tech industry’s next big buzzword ever since Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to invest US$10 billion to help bring the concept to life.

“The Metaverse concept opens up a world of opportunities for users to try out various activities from travelling, shopping, trying on clothes and attending virtual concerts. As the idea takes centre stage, and [with] familiarity with cryptocurrencies and digital financial capabilities growing, the early seeding grounds for Metaverse is quite suitable,” Groves said.

Major brands are already vying for a slice of this new internet experience, with recent forays including as Ariana Grande’s performance in a series of concerts inside Fortnite, as well as the introduction of virtual clothes and dressing rooms for gamers in the retail space.

“Given the onslaught of digital and technological changes, organisations will need to keep up with emerging customer demands, which in turn will enable them to navigate the current and future economic environment,” Groves said.

“For this reason, CIOs across the board must start thinking of ways to drive growth and remain agile. One way to do this is by bringing their digital presence to the next level and be well prepared to do so, once the Metaverse becomes a reality.”

Groves said companies looking to be early adopters should leverage their experience with virtual business technologies such as collaboration tools picked up during the pandemic. “Organisations should leverage these increasingly creative virtual business experiences to connect and collaborate with their own people, enhance their business process and maintain a competitive edge,” she said.

But enabling the Metaverse will require fast and reliable connections to the internet as well as the ability to process data closer to the edge — capabilities 5G is ideally suited for — Groves said.

Likewise, the sheer volume of data exchange, bandwidth and continuous data centre operations to keep user experiences smooth will conflict with industry pressures to improve sustainability and reduce emissions.

“Leveraging existing infrastructure can help to reduce the formation of new and bigger data centres that can potentially add burden to the environment,” Groves said.

“As companies move towards the Metaverse and commission more data centres to support their individual offering as well as to work with the rest of the ecosystem, they should work with experts to organise and prioritise data centre sustainability. They can start looking into their Scope 2 emissions, review their current energy mix, and consider clean technologies [to] address their carbon footprint.”

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