Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0: the European vision under review at the ANI/ANACOM workshop

On 29 October 2025, Agência Nacional de Inovação (ANI - the National Innovation Agency) and Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM) organised a workshop at the ANACOM headquarters in Lisbon to explore the challenges associated with virtual worlds and the immersive transformation within the framework of the European strategy for Web 4.0. The event presented the European Commission's policies and programmes, and explored Portugal's potential role in the ethical, safe, and inclusive adoption of these emerging technologies.

In his opening speech, Marco Biscaia Fernandes, a member of ANACOM's Board of Directors, emphasised that virtual worlds represent a new phase of the Internet, characterised by the convergence of connectivity, artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality. He emphasised the regulator's role in ensuring security, interoperability and inclusion, and advocated for people-centred innovation based on European values such as freedom, transparency and human rights.

This was followed by a presentation from Anne Bajart, a DG CONNECT representative from the European Commission. She presented the 2023 strategy, which is structured around four pillars: empowering people and skills, supporting the business ecosystem, strengthening the role of public administrations and creating appropriate governance. She also emphasised the importance of training projects, technical standardisation, and regulatory testing environments (sandboxes) for fostering safe innovation.

Francisco Ibáñez and Mariano Alcañiz from the European Virtual Worlds Association, which acts as a bridge between the European Commission, industry and academia, shared their goal of promoting a strong European ecosystem based on three pillars: usefulness, openness and human-centredness. They also discussed accelerating research and innovation in the field of virtual worlds.

Afonso Duarte, the National Contact Point for Cluster 4 of the Horizon Europe Programme at ANI, presented European funding programmes such as Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme. He explained how Portuguese companies and institutions can access funds, form consortia and participate in international collaborative projects.

Next, a roundtable discussion was held, bringing together experts from various fields: Maria Vilar from Immersiv Studios, Carlos Duarte from the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lisbon, Fernando Cassola Marques from INESC TEC and João Moreira from Madalia World. The discussion was moderated by Augusto Fragoso from ANACOM and Luís Bravo Martins from the XR Safety Initiative. The experts openly and critically debated the ethical, social and technological challenges of virtual worlds. The discussion highlighted a variety of ideas from different areas:

• Regulation and ethics: balancing innovation with the protection of fundamental rights, and emphasising guiding regulation over punitive measures.
• Inclusion and accessibility: Using virtual reality to promote accessibility and inclusion while avoiding new forms of digital exclusion.
• Creative freedom vs. regulation: achieving a consensus on regulations that guide without stifling innovation.
• Integration with AI: exploring how generative AI can be used to speed up the creation and simulation of environments while ensuring ethical responsibility.
• National vision: Portugal can establish itself as a living laboratory for immersive innovation while strengthening ties with Portuguese-speaking countries.

António Grilo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ANI, closed the workshop by focusing on leveraging the innovation ecosystem. He stressed the importance of intensifying cooperation between businesses and academia to ensure that scientific knowledge is transferred and valued effectively. During his speech, he also advocated increased investment in R&D and the urgent need to develop digital skills. Finally, he emphasised the importance of maintaining an active dialogue between innovation and regulation to ensure that the technological advancement of Web 4.0 is achieved in an ethical, sustainable, and human-centred manner.

Following the workshop, the first national XR Meetup took place, providing participants with the chance to network with the event's speakers and share ideas.

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