The Technology, Policy and Law (TPL) Lab of the Centre for Public Affairs and Law (CPAL) is an inter-disciplinary research lab jointly hosted by the School of Law and the Department of Public Policy of City University of Hong Kong. The TPL Lab organised its very first event on 16 June 2022 entitled “A Multi-Disciplinary Dialogue about the Metaverse: Technological Possibilities, Legal Implications, and Policy Preparation”.

The event was kicked off by a warm welcome by Prof WANG Jianping (Assistant Provost, CityU Office of the Provost; Professor, CityU Department of Computer Science), Prof Richard WALKER (Director, CPAL; Dean, CityU College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences) and Prof TAN Cheng-Han (Co-Director, CPAL and TPL; Dean, CityU School of Law).

The first talk by Dr CHEUNG Chak Chung Ray (Associate Professor, CityU Department of Electrical Engineering) “Metaverse from Engineering Perspectives: Implications and Opportunities” focused on the possible influences of the metaverse on educators and industries. As a researcher specializing in computer engineering, Dr Cheung made useful suggestions on how public policies and laws can remove barriers to the metaverse developing and what can be done to strengthen Hong Kong’s competitive edge.

Dr Yanto CHANDRA (Associate Professor, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University) was invited to deliver a speech “Non-Fungible Token (NFT) as a Gateway to the Metaverse Economy: An Introduction”. He shared his research work on the NFT and blockchain technologies on art tech, the future economy and new forms of engagement and entrepreneurship.

Prof Tan set out some examples of legal issues that will have to be considered such as abusive conduct on the metaverse, intellectual property considerations, and digital assets.

Prof Alfred Tat-kei HO (Co-Director, CPAL Technology, Policy and Law Lab; Head CityU Department of Public Policy) then led a panel discussion with his external guests Mr Alan WAN (President, Digital Art Company Ltd. and the Confucius Hall Secondary School Foundation) and Mr Eric YU (Vice President, Corporate Account Services, CSL Mobile Ltd.; Chairperson, Education Division, Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong) to examine the policy, governance, and social issues related to the metaverse. All the participants exchanged their ideas actively from their specialities.

The morning session ended with comments by Prof Kevin C. DESOUZA (Professor of Business, Technology and Strategy, Queensland University of Technology) on the global development trends in anticipation of the metaverse.

In the afternoon session, TPL Lab members gave progress updates on their projects.

The Mini-conference ended with closing remarks by the Lab Co-Directors Prof Tan and Prof Ho. They thanked all speakers and participants for the support to this inter-disciplinary event and looked forward to more collaborations in future.