Facebook’s decision to change its name to Meta is more than just a new logo — it heralds the mainstream arrival of the metaverse, an online world where people interact via headsets and digital avatars. The DMV should embrace its chance to become the District of Metaverse by creating new opportunities for education, jobs and investment. But our region runs the risk of missing out and, instead, creating new divides.
Soon, almost every learner, worker, business, nonprofit and government service will depend heavily on metaverse connections. Because the impacts to our region will be so wide-ranging, it’s important that we start asking some big questions about the metaverse before the winners and losers have been decided.
Today, for instance, too many D.C.-area students are still struggling without high-speed internet access. Keeping access to the metaverse away from these students will be exponentially more harmful. How will we ensure that area students from underserved communities…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
