The 2nd WMC2023 World Metaverse Congress Opened in Shanghai

On September 20th, the second WMC2023 World Metaverse Conference, with the theme of "virtual and real symbiosis, industrial empowerment", was held in Anting, Shanghai. The conference is jointly hosted by the China Simulation Society, the China Command and Control Society, and Beijing Institute of Technology, and jointly organized by the Anting Town People's Government of Jiading District, Shanghai and the Metaverse Professional Committee of the China Simulation Society. Ren Aiguang, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ji Zhicheng, Vice Chairman of the China Simulation Society, Ding Gangyi, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Computer Science and Technology at Beijing Institute of Technology, and Gao Xiang, Deputy Secretary and District Mayor of Jiading District, Shanghai, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Speech by Deputy Director Ren Aiguang

Vice Director Ren Aiguang stated in his speech that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has deeply implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, seized opportunities for the development of new generation information technology, strengthened top-level design, promoted industrial innovation, cultivated industrial foundation, and forward-looking layout of future industries such as the metaverse. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, along with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration of the State Council, and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, jointly issued the "Three Year Action Plan for Innovation and Development of the Metaverse Industry". The main goal is to build an industrial metaverse and empower the manufacturing industry, and 14 key tasks have been proposed from five aspects.

Speech by Vice Chairman Ji Zhicheng

Vice Chairman Ji Zhicheng stated in his speech that simulation technology plays a crucial role in the construction of the metaverse, providing technical support and theoretical foundation for it. The metaverse provides simulation technology with broader application scenarios and more powerful development tools. The China Simulation Society will take the initiative to shoulder its mission, actively participate in the formulation of group standards for metaverse governance rules, actively build academic exchange platforms in the field of metaverse, and gather domestic and foreign experts and scholars to jointly explore the latest technological development and application trends.

Speech by Secretary Ding Gangyi

Secretary Ding Gangyi introduced in his speech that in recent years, Beijing Institute of Technology has undertaken the research and development of virtual simulation technology and support services for multiple national major tasks such as the National Day parade and the Olympic Games. Looking towards the future, the school will fully implement the "Three Year Plan for the Metaverse" jointly issued by five ministries, actively promote digital education scenarios, build key technology laboratories for the Metaverse, increase efforts to promote new models of smart education, empower the real economy with high-quality composite talents for the industrial Metaverse, and strive to make greater contributions to the exploration and practice of the Metaverse in China.

Speech by Gao Xiang District Chief

Gaoxiang District Mayor welcomes and thanks the attendees for their arrival. She introduced that with the full support of the Municipal Party Committee and Government, Jiading has taken the lead in the new track of the metaverse, especially in exploring the application of metaverse technology in automotive research and development, testing, and sales. Next, Jiading will take the convening of this conference as an opportunity to actively build a more competitive and visible innovation and development system for the metaverse industry. Jiading will always uphold the concept of open cooperation, and fully support the integration and development of new technologies, models, and formats in the metaverse with Jiading's industry through precise and powerful policy systems, meticulous and thoughtful service measures, and efficient innovation platforms. We will actively open up new scenarios, applications, and ecosystems for the digital economy, and jointly create a better future for the metaverse industry.

The venue of this conference, Anting, is known as the "Number One Automobile Town in China". With a hardcore industrial foundation, advanced industry layout, and strong talent support, we have all the necessary conditions to develop new generation information technologies such as the metaverse. At this conference, Anting Town released the "Anting Automotive Metaverse Industry Planning White Paper" and signed cooperation agreements with the Metaverse Professional Committee of the China Simulation Society and more than 20 high-quality metaverse enterprises. In addition, the Anting Automobile Metaverse Industry Base - Yuanchuangwan was officially unveiled at the meeting, and the Shanghai Metaverse Industry Innovation Alliance was officially launched on site.

This conference invited more than 110 domestic and foreign experts and scholars, including Miguel Nicolelis, the father of the world's brain computer interface, academician of the French Academy of Sciences and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Steve Hoffman, the father of Silicon Valley venture capital, Xu Bin, an international academician of the Royal Academy of Engineering and an academician of the European Academy of Sciences, Wang Lijun, a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering, as well as representatives from top companies in the metaverse, to attend and give keynote speeches. The conference focused on exploring, innovating, and applying key technologies such as brain computer interfaces, digital humans, computing networks, game engines, sensing technology, space computing, and human-computer interaction. The conference also set up industrial metaverse, automotive metaverse, game metaverse, and medical metaverse to conduct technological exploration, innovative applications, and academic exchanges. Nine themed forums on the application of metaverse scenarios, including metaverse, educational metaverse, virtual digital humans, cultural and tourism metaverse, and XR spatial computing.