Top Ten Recommendations

As part of the outputs of the ViWISSO Project, the research team recommends the following steps be taken to reduce fragmentation and increase the impact of Virtual World standardization activities and interoperability across Virtual World platforms and ecosystems:

1)       Promote and enforce European and international technical standards for interoperability, privacy, and industry-specific applications in virtual worlds.

2)       Remove barriers so that more European buyer and provider stakeholders can participate in standardization processes.

3)       Build awareness campaigns to highlight the benefits of standards and strengthen their adoption in industry.

4)       Require that standards be approved only after several independent implementations have proven their practicality.

5)       Improve coordination of policy and standards across EU member states, projects, and international bodies.

6)       Integrate standards compliance into EU procurement and funding programs to drive demand for interoperable solutions.

7)       Enhance the accessibility and transparency of existing standards and projects through improved registries.

8)       Establish Europe-wide education programs on standards to train professionals and executives with hands-on practice.

9)       Provide incentives and support centers for developers to facilitate easier implementation of standards.

10)     Create a European clearinghouse for standards compliance offering testing and certification services.