Leveraging The Metaverse for Innovation
Friday, November 18, 2022
Jon M. Huntsman Hall | Rooms 245 & 250
The Wharton School, Philadelphia
Note: this event has passed.
The metaverse is not just a subject of science fiction any longer. Persistent, immersive virtual spaces increasingly appear as the next stage of digital transformation of business and society that will change the ways companies create value, interact with customers, and organize employees. Foreshadowing these developments, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, Microsoft acquired gaming company Activision Blizzard, investors poured billions in metaverse-related technologies.
At the same time, there is plenty of confusion regarding what the metaverse is, how it operates, and what exactly it can offer to people and businesses. And there is plenty of skepticism fed by a recent drastic decline in Meta’s capitalization, cryptocurrencies’ crash, and the disconnect between the buzz around the metaverse and its hardly noticeable presence in our everyday lives.
Being focused on antecedents and consequences of emerging technologies, the Mack Institute is a natural venue for exploring the transformative potential of the metaverse. This year’s Fall Conference will feature the Wharton faculty whose research and teaching contribute to such an exploration. Side-by-side with them, industry practitioners will share use cases for metaverse technologies and their applications. Presentations and discussions should help us answer the following questions:
- What is fundamentally new and disruptive about the metaverse as a technology? How does it reshape markets and organizations?
- How does the metaverse spark innovations in products, services, business models, and management?
- How can companies manage such innovations to realize the metaverse’s promises and neutralize its threats?
With its mission to join rigorous research with practical applications to help established firms navigate the risks and rewards of innovation, the Mack Institute regularly convenes meetings with stakeholders across many industries, including our corporate partners and the Wharton School’s global alumni network.