Please note, in-person tickets are strictly one-per organisation.

Following our recent ‘Policing the Metaverse: the next frontier of law enforcement and justice’ event as part of techUK’s ‘Making the Metaverse’ campaign, tech UK are partnering with the Home Office and the Policing Chief Scientific Adviser’s Office to host a roundtable discussion on how to tackle the key challenges facing UK law enforcement in their journey to policing the metaverse.

For UK Policing, they must understand what the challenges are, what the role of law enforcement is, what partners they need to work with, and what capability and skills are needed to keep the public safe.  

Research estimates that by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse. This could have transformative impacts across a number of sectors from entertainment and education to retail and healthcare. However, this also brings new opportunities for criminality – both new ways to commit existing crimes, and potentially opportunities for new harm.  

Whatever form the metaverse takes, the blurring between the physical and digital worlds will have implications for law enforcement and public safety. This session, chaired by Home Office officials, will delve into the opportunities and challenges that the metaverse, and the technologies it depends on, present to law enforcement, and what must be done to keep pace in the digital age.

To support the development of government policy on the metaverse, this session will look to draw on a wide array of opinions across industry and policing. The Home Office will look to participants to voice their thoughts, ideas and opinions on the below areas. This will be an interactive session calling on attendees to input so we would like to raise if you are attending, to be prepared to get involved in the conversation!


Accessibility and Time Horizon

  • How prevalent is the metaverse, currently, across different sectors?
  • What will the level of immersion look like in 1, 3, 5, 10 years’ time?
  • How accessible will metaverse environments be, and what will that mean for policing?
     

Criminality

  • How will existing criminality change in the metaverse? Will perceptions of harm change and will this require the government to revisit existing punishments?
  • Will the metaverse enable new harms that should become crimes through changes in criminal law?
     

Digital Forensics

  • How will metaverse activity be investigated?
  • What issues might there be with digital forensics (data access, data capture/storage, privacy, anonymity etc.)?
  • How do we tackle the issue of jurisdiction in a borderless digital space?
     

Law Enforcement Capability

  • What capabilities will policing need to prevent, detect, and investigate crime in the metaverse?
  • How can we best deliver these capabilities?
     

Training and Skills

  • How can policing prepare now for different participation and penetration rates of the metaverse?
  • Can policing use the metaverse as part of their own training/professional development?
  • What activity is currently taking place, and can the UK learn from other global leaders?
Georgie Morgan

Georgie Morgan

Head of Justice and Emergency Services, techUK

Laura Foster

Laura Foster

Head of Technology and Innovation, techUK

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