The European University Association has urged the European Commission to improve physical and digital infrastructure for virtual and augmented reality technology, as well as calling for increased funding for the technology.
The association gave its input to the European Commission’s public consultations on emerging virtual worlds (e.g. metaverses), highlighting that universities are important users and creators of virtual/augmented reality technologies.
The EUA noted that it is vital that the technology must be underpinned by physical and digital infrastructure, enabling innovation and safeguarding academic values. The association also highlighted the importance of open standards to enable sharing, cooperation and inclusion.
The need for investment was also highlighted, to offer universities the capacity to develop and maintain infrastructure and to access publicly funded infrastructure in addition to the financial means to access commercial systems.
Governance for open standards also made a key point for the EUA, focusing on the need for the development of standards that allow access, interoperability and privacy in an open ecosystem.
In a statement, the EUA said: “In their various roles, universities will adopt technologies across many domains, which will add to the amount of investment needed. It is therefore welcome that the European Commission aims to further private investment. However, ambitious public investment will remain a necessity if universities are to contribute to the development and use of these technologies.
“It is unlikely that the existing European programmes will be sufficient for the necessary investment, beyond the financing of pilot projects or similar. For that reason, it is very welcome that the initiative includes the coordination of national funding. Such coordination highlights the need for a European governance model that includes a wide range of stakeholders.”
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