How Can State and Local Governments Secure the Metaverse?
The metaverse likely will bring together technologies such as AR and VR and IoT data modeling, all tied together through extensive use of cloud services. It will be important to ensure that all of that is kept safe from prying eyes and bad actors.
“You’re going to want to make sure that it’s secure. You’re going to want to think about privacy,” Glasscock says.
For example, with IoT sensors deployed throughout a city, device hacking becomes a major concern. Bad actors might try to access the sensors to manipulate the data in order to sway public opinion or drive a particular outcome, a practice known as narrative red-teaming.
“If there are sensors in some part of town and people want to manipulate that data, they may be able to do that,” Richmond says. “If you start to make information available, there will be people who will weaponize it and who will change the narrative or spin up false narratives. And now it’s backed by government data. Invariably, data can be misconstrued in a lot of really toxic ways.”
To secure their metaverse efforts, IT leaders will need to strategize early and be thoughtful in their implementations. “As you’re developing your interface, be thinking about what it is that you’re trying to expose, and also be thinking about the security issues,” Richmond says.
The metaverse will require rigorous security solutions, including multifactor authentication, advanced firewalls, threat detection technologies and data analytics, Forbes notes. In addition to applying protective technologies around their metaverse applications, it also makes sense for IT to enlist a wide range of talents in support of metaverse cybersecurity.
“Having a cybersecurity person goes without saying these days. You also need to have somebody on the team who’s thinking about how this information may be weaponized. Then you can create inoculation. You can put messaging out that gets ahead of those people who may try to turn this into toxic narratives,” Richmond says. “You really need storytellers as part of your team.”
DISCOVER: Digital twins help cities study operations of infrastructure systems.
Using Digital Twins Can Support Better City Planning
While the metaverse is still at the leading edge of local government technology trends, some municipalities are already putting it to the test.
There are efforts underway to put the 40-square-mile metro region of Orlando, Fla., into a virtual model. The Orlando Economic Partnership has partnered with a gaming company “to develop a 3D model of the area — from its downtown core all the way out to Space Coast on the eastern edge of central Florida — that the city can show off to potential investors in its bid to grow as a tech hub,” Bloomberg reports.
In New York City, a digital twin is helping to support transportation improvements in a project started by Columbia University. The city “uses real-time data obtained through sensors placed at various locations … to optimize the flow of traffic at key intersections,” according to The Metaverse Insider.
Santa Monica, Calif., meanwhile, is embracing metaverse technology to create more immersive resident engagements.
The city has developed a play-to-earn game “that provides digital collectibles and rewards that can be redeemed at local retailers,” The Metaverse Insider reports.
People can use the app to explore the city while searching for tokens and rewards. “This enables local businesses to benefit from incoming traffic. Some rewards include extra photo filters within the app as benefits.”
This gamification of municipal metaverse applications may encourage residents to get to know their city a little better.
This news is republished from another source.