Now plan the transformation of the Internet through the metaverse and Web3

Today, the internet is a disparate collection of sites, apps, and platforms. Because they are separated from each other, they lack interoperability and data portability. So despite the huge strides made by digital transformation, this current model will ultimately limit businesses. In fact, 95% of executives surveyed for 2022 Accenture Technology Vision Report believe that future digital platforms should provide unified experiences, enabling interoperability of customer data across platforms and spaces.

However, thanks to two emerging concepts, a new form of the internet is emerging that will transcend these limitations: 1) the metaverse continuum, an evolution of the internet that enables people to participate in a sustained shared experience in the real and virtual worlds, and 2 ) Web3, or emerging attempts to build a “distributed” layer to the Internet through technologies such as blockchain and tokenization.

Taken together, these show us the next generation of the Internet – one that moves beyond today’s fragmented interactions into a new world of connected immersive experiences.

Simply put, the digital world is in the early stages of an evolution, and eventually the metaverse and Web3 will become critical components of how enterprises orchestrate their digital strategies. The online footprint that companies have built over the last decade will be reviewed, from what services are sold and what data is accessible to how ads are run and content is generated.

With the metaverse, the internet will be rebuilt as an enduring 3D environment, infused with a sense of place, where moving from work to a social platform is as easy as crossing the road. Meanwhile, Web3 technologies will create a layer of data that enables veracity, trust, and even scarcity. This new internet will be more human-centric and exponentially more valuable.

Now is the time for companies to decide what role they will play in the future of the Internet. Will they want to be part of the wave that is creating this future, or will they be content just watching it unfold?

Signs of change

Shifts in the digital world over the past 18 months have made it clear that a “wait and see” approach will soon turn into “look – it’s already happened”. Companies are even thinking differently about the digital world and are capturing new value.

For example BMW recently built digital twin from 31 different factories. The models use real-time data to create a photorealistic 3D environment that mimics everything from the machines on the floor to the people populating stations and their individual work order instructions.

The digital twins are used to train robots to navigate factories, bring together designers from around the world for experiments, and run training simulations for individual tasks. Employees can also use the environment to make software updates, monitor individual cells for disturbances, assign new “missions” to the robots on the shop floor, and even operate machines for individual tasks.

A good example of Web3 innovation comes out Hack, creator of Solid, lets users manage and store their data in Personal Online Data Stores (Pods). Large organizations and governments can now build websites or applications that communicate with Pods and, with people’s consent, access the data they need for certain tasks. As with all Web3 technologies, Solid creates a transactional and trust layer on the Web by making different parties the arbiters of their own data.

In the digital world, the adoption of technology and related services often runs like a snowball effect. After all, it only took 15 years from the launch of the first iPhone to a world with 6.6 billion smartphones. Tomorrow’s internet will be today’s internet before you know it.

Actions to be taken now

Business leaders should begin exploring the potential of new products and services today, while training their executives in the technologies that will soon form the foundation of their business. As the metaverse and Web3 technologies mature, the companies willing and ready to experiment with new platforms and data structures will be the ones shaping the next generation of digital business. There are several factors to consider:

• Invest in the cloud: The metaverse that emerges is determined by the services and platforms it encompasses. To even be present, enterprises must have the infrastructure to share applications at scale and securely. That means rebuilding applications in the cloud with microservice architectures and APIs so they can be easily used and shared with others. These steps must be taken today, even if the final state of the metaverse remains uncertain.
• Focus on skills: For the metaverse, companies need 3D artists, game designers, and experts in the built platforms. Companies chasing Web3 opportunities need experience with multiple blockchains. They will need to build relationships with different consortia, find partners to go to market with, and build new business and operational models. Fortunately, the increasing sophistication and democratization of immersive design tools makes it easier than ever to start experimenting with these technologies.
• Find partners: Forming new partnerships and ensuring your organization can participate in future collaborations is also critical. Consortia and industry standards bodies will be important, enabling greater interoperability between companies and making it easier to deliver cross-platform experiences or collaborate on an experience together. By agreeing on a common framework when a technology is in its infancy, companies can prepare to deliver more compatible services to future shared consumers.

The metaverse and Web3 are profound technological shifts, simultaneously working to eliminate the friction that exists between today’s many digital platforms and reinvent how data moves and is used in digital experiences. As they create a new internet, they will drive new industries, new ways of working, and new ways of interacting between businesses and people. For many organizations, this is the first and best opportunity they’ve ever had to design a new kind of digital world.

Marc Carrel-Billiard is the global leader of Accenture Technology Innovation. He oversees all of Accenture’s research and development activities and leads the delivery of the company’s annual Technology Vision.

Michael Biltz is director of Accenture Technology Vision at Accenture Labs.