Domestic researchers are actively developing standards and guidelines for the metaverse industry, contributing to the creation of a metaverse industry ecosystem.

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced that it will begin developing an ICT convergence standard framework in the field of the 'metaverse,' a virtual convergence space that is attracting attention as a core technology for the future digital society, together with the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA).

As non-face-to-face services expand due to COVID-19, the metaverse is gaining attention as a next-generation ICT industry that enables daily life and economic activities beyond the constraints of space and time.

The standard framework is a guideline that identifies new convergence services based on future ICT technologies and presents the standards necessary to implement the discovered services.

For the metaverse to connect with real-world industries and services, it is necessary to: clearly define technological elements; discover related convergence services; and develop standards to support them.

ETRI's Metaverse Standard Framework analyzes metaverse convergence services and utilization scenarios and defines the standards required to implement them.

△Service modeling for the industrial ecosystem △Identification of currently developed standards △Analysis of standards requiring further development (potential standards) The goal is to predict the ecosystem structure of future industries through these methods and to first present a blueprint for the standards required in the market and services.

ETRI announced that it will form an expert consultative body with experts from industry, academia, and research in the metaverse field and relevant ministries to promote development, and that it will hold a public hearing at the end of the year to collect balanced opinions on the diffusion and distribution of the developed standard framework and verification of its effectiveness.

Kang Shin-gak, Director of ETRI's Standards Research Division, stated, "As digital transformation accelerates and the metaverse emerges, the development of a strategic standards framework through collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including industry, academia, and research experts, is essential. From a standards perspective, we will strive to utilize and strengthen the response system for ICT convergence standards in the metaverse field, which the market needs."