Fitting of its theme “Adapt.Collaborate.Conquer,” the Asian Carriers Conference (ACC) 2022 wrapped up its first Boracay staging combining hard work, productive parties, lessons from expert speakers, and a dive into the Metaverse from keynote presenter and futurist Mike Walsh.
Now on its 18th year and with the support of the Philippines’ leading telco PLDT and its wireless unit Smart, the convention was packed with learning sessions for over 600 attendees listening in on Walsh’s plenary talk. The ‘CEO of Tomorrow’ implored businesses to step into the Metaverse and the layers that would hold the most opportunity for their business which he categorized in Interfaces, Interactions, and Infrastructure.
“Think of the Metaverse as a massively scaled, decentralized, blockchain-enabled computer. This network makes possible not only entirely new kinds of hybrid digital experiences, but more importantly, the creation of entirely new business models, new value delivery platforms and new ways of working,” explains Walsh.
Through Interface, businesses need to re-imagine their delivery of customer experience such as how a real concert was organized through popular online game Fortnite. Partnerships were also means to accelerate delving into the Metaverse the way US companies have partnered with online global platform Roblox and virtual universe creator platform Zepeto.
Furthermore, Walsh suggests businesses to make digital versions of their products, citing the popularity of NFTs which big sports companies such as Nike and Adidas have already made millions from.
Under Interactions, he reminds companies the need to build communities and not just campaigns which successful brands have done, “what they’ve done well is build an active community on platforms like Discord, or other messaging platforms where they’re not just trying to recruit or sell their products, they’re making their customers evangelists.”
On Infrastructure, he advised leaders to design for de-centralization and take a bottom up approach, the way AI tech company NVIDIA granted free licenses for its Omniverse software to artists and other creatives, who help build virtual worlds.
“The enterprise metaverse will integrate a wide range of emerging technologies and radical organizational design ideas to challenge how we work, from manufacturing to collaboration to strategic decision-making,” explains Walsh.
He reminded the audience that the Metaverse needs new leadership capabilities and skills.
PLDT has been powering up ACC since 2004 which has attracted decision-makers as delegates from over 400 companies from 60+ countries.
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