The City of Sousse, Tunisia, hosted, on June 17-19, 2023, a Regional Forum on “Metaverse and the Future of Creative Cultural Industries”, held in cooperation between ALECSO and the Tunisian Culture Ministry.
The Forum was attended by representatives of Member States and international and regional organizations, as well as by relevant experts, specialists and researchers. Participants also included representatives from start-ups active in artificial intelligence, Metaverse, arts, heritage, and cultural industries.
The Forum featured the presentation of immersive experiences, digital cultural projects, and Metaverse projects by a number of startups.
The Forum provided an opportunity to deepen reflection and share views about the challenges, opportunities and risks associated with the digital revolution, especially in relation to culture, language, identity and cultural specificities. It was designed to help government institutions, relevant actors, and content-producing companies in the Arab countries to develop strategies to take best advantage of the Metaverse and immersive technologies.
The Forum focused on a range of topics, including :
- Metaverse: opportunities, trends and challenges;
- New digital technologies and their impact on the development of the arts and culture industry;
- Technology revolution, education and the competitiveness of Arab economies in cultural and creative industries.
Following the scheduled presentations, workshops, and discussions, Participants in the Forum:
- Underlined the key importance of the Forum’s theme and the need to hold the forum on a regular basis, in order to keep pace with rapid developments in digital technology and to be fully prepared to take best advantage thereof;
- Appreciated the offer of the Lebanese Republic to host the second session of the Forum in Tripoli, Lebanon, on the occasion of the celebration of “Tripoli : Capital of Arab Culture for 2024”;
- Stressed the need to pay attention to the concerns and challenges associated with the use of Metaverse technology (ethics, governance,…), and to focus on the human dimensions of technology and digital content that can have a profound impact on recipients, including children, students, and others.
Two practical recommendations were announced at the close of the Forum :
- Forming a joint Arab Working Group that includes ALECSO, the Tunis International Center for Digital Cultural Economy, the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States, and Bibliotheca Alexandrina, to work on launching the Arab Metaverse project, setting common priorities, and developing an Arab strategy that takes into account the relevant factors involved, to be submitted to the second session of the Forum.
- Announcing the launch of the “ALECSO - Tunis International Center for Digital Cultural Economy Chair for Youth and Start-ups”, and calling for setting the goals and fields of action of the Chair, as well as its preliminary agenda and representatives in the Arab countries.
