On 1 December 2021, Bloomberg Intelligence published an article that foresees the metaverse reaching up to US$800 billion in revenue opportunity come 2024.
Other publications like The Conversation have also chimed in about this forecast, but they have added something very interesting: the metaverse’s foundation will be based on Web 3.0, and that it will be deeply intertwined with cryptocurrencies and other digital assets like NFTs.
Fazz Business and the greater Fazz Financial Group are unique amongst the panelists and keynote speakers at the annual Asia Telecommunications and Media Forum, hosted by the International Institute of Communications (IIC).
How so? Fazz Business (formerly Xfers) is a tech company with longstanding relations and compliance with regulatory bodies. Such a panel consists of tech giants through the likes of AT&T, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and Verizon, as well as regulators from Australia, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Qatar, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.
What is the Asia Telecommunications & Media Forum (IIC)?
Every year, the International Institute of Communications (IIC) hosts the Asia Telecommunications and Media Forum. This year in 2022, the agenda is to build a better digital ecosystem, and how it would translate to the economic and societal progress of the ASEAN region.
The agenda at the 2022 Asia Telecommunications & Media Forum (IIC)
2022’s focus revolved around regulating online content, the metaverse, and digital assets. This is alongside the usual drive for digital accessibility.
Specifically, Fazz Business was invited to speak on “The metaverse and digital assets – what are the implications of the melding of real and virtual worlds for regulatory oversight?” panel.
Fazz Business’ Co-Founder and Chief Legal Officer, Samson Leo, had the honour to speak about this topic with:
- Hagen Rook, Partner, Reed Smith LLP
- Hwang Junseok (Prof), Director and Dean of the Technology Management, Economics and Policy Program (TEMEP), Seoul National University
- Hao Xu, Head of Qualcomm Research China
The audience consisted of high-ranking executives from tech giants such as AT&T, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and Verizon. Regulatory officials from Australia, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Qatar, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand were also in presence. See the full list here.
Why was Fazz Business invited to speak at the 2022 Asia Telecommunications & Media Forum (IIC)?
Fazz Business is well-positioned to be a speaker at the forum because of our collaborative approach to regulatory bodies. Such an approach has led to us winning many awards – our latest award was the Minister of Home Affairs National Day Award 2021.
Fazz Business has also won a string of awards for its commitment to regulatory compliance, particularly in scam prevention and intervention, anti-money laundering efforts, and keeping the highest standards of cybersecurity.
During the 2022 Asia Telecommunications and Media Forum hosted by the IIC, Fazz Business served as a bridge between the interests of regulators and tech companies.
As Samson puts it succinctly, “The idea is, ‘How we can share and participate to shape international policies and regulations?’”
Kenn Yee, the moderator of the panel and Policy Analyst at Access Partnership Asia, adds that the “private sector input to digital policies is absolutely necessary”, and that “digital policies cut across many sectors and different technologies”.
“Regulators need to dialogue with businesses to understand the current state of technologies and innovations, separate reality from the hype and confusion, and understand the needs and concerns of businesses and users to optimize regulations,” continued Kenn.
Samson adds to Kenn’s point with another question, “How do we best do this, how do we prevent the downsides – which is key to what most regulators are looking at – and how do we make that transition [to the adoption of the metaverse and digital assets] as seamless as possible?”
Moving forward in the world of digital assets & metaverse
Fazz Business will continue its commitment to collaborating with regulators to find workable solutions for both parties. With digital assets and the greater metaverse evolving at quantum speed, it’s imperative that regulators and tech companies maintain a close and cordial relationship to make sure that the general public benefits from these bleeding edge technologies.
