As the United Nations, World Economic Forum (WEF), European Union, World Bank and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation push for a global digital ID, a new WEF report highlights the “pivotal role” a person’s “digital identity” is expected to play in the metaverse.

The WEF’s “Metaverse Identity: Defining the Self in a Blended Reality” report, published last month and written in collaboration with Accenture, a multinational internet technology company, states:

“The metaverse, poised to redefine the internet, intertwines the digital and physical, emphasizing the pivotal role of ‘identity’ in shaping immersive, human-centric experiences.”

According to the foreword to the full WEF report, “The metaverse will act as a conduit to blend the digital world with the physical world and transform how people interact with information, others and their surroundings” and digital ID will be “a cornerstone in metaverse identity.”