decimalchChina: Universities Targeting Metaverses
Now this is no longer news, at least for those who constantly follow the world of cryptocurrencies not only on the speculative front. According to Coinmarketrate.com, in a very short time, the Metaverse has transformed from an indefinite cloud of possible Web3 applications, into a real research laboratory on the chain.
This is not yet an open ecosystem, which is attractive to many because of its well-known commercial potential, and for the scientific community because of its innovative nature, from a purely technological point of view. But…
Following the chronological order, the last institute to announce its development plans in this direction was the Nanjing University of Information Sciences and Technology in Nanjing, China, which is activating special courses on weather, medical research and the development of new applications for metaverses, which will be conducted mainly in the educational sector.
The best students will cooperate with companies already using blockchain in healthcare, tourism and education. The University will also enter into a partnership with Hong Kong Polytechnic University to establish scholarships, obtain doctoral and master’s degrees.
As mentioned at the beginning, the university will rename the Faculty of Information Engineering to the Faculty of Metaverse Engineering, becoming, as far as we know, the first educational institution to include the term Metaverse in China.
Despite repeated prohibitions…
Thus, the Asian giant confirms its interest in Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and related technologies, after many years of ambiguous attitude towards the entire industry, if not openly hostile. This change probably occurred after the realization that bans and forced closures are useless, and that the sector has a number of opportunities in reserve that it can use to its advantage.
And now, after the grotesque attempts of the central authorities to block mining, we are seeing a country ready to invest huge resources in the development of technologies and applications related to the metaverse, with a two-year plan announced by Beijing as recently as a month ago.
And again, universities were among the first to take up such technology. The world of research and the world of cryptocurrencies are now closely linked: examples come to us from the University of Hong Kong, which offers courses on blockchain to its students, as well as from Japan, where the prestigious Todai Institute will conduct courses on engineering in the metaverse.
Hong Kong and Tokyo are not the only cases. The University of Pennsylvania did not stand aside, confirming the interest in this sector from campuses around the world.
The interest that often leads to multimillion-dollar research programs once again demonstrates how attractive this technology is. And not only from a purely commercial point of view, but also as a testing ground for technologies that will characterize the economic, social and political structure of tomorrow.
