Virtual Worlds were highlighted as a core driver of DME within iN2015. Concept proposals are invited from prospective Virtual World technology providers, developers and user groups under a Request For Information (RFI) – Virtual Worlds for Singapore. Closure date for RFI submissions is January 15th 2008.

Both the public launch of China’s Recreation District (CRD) in Beijing last week and Singapore’s iN2015 reinforce the strategic imperative of Virtual Worlds within DME over the coming decade. International initiatives such as these bode well for the future of the emergent Virtual Worlds sector as it evolves. Interesting times indeed.

“The participants have proven that virtual worlds offer lots of space for entrepreneurship, and have convinced us with their creativity”, says Dr. Christoph Glatzel. He was part of the VVC jury – together with Prof. Miklos Sarvary from INSEAD, Spiegel Online editor Christian Stöcker and Florian Schweitzer from the Swiss BrainsToVentures venture capitalist. The jury not only evaluated the quality and the potential of the business ideas, but also looked at the implementation progress, the understanding of risks and opportunities, and the quality of the presentation.

Finalists for the inaugural McKinsey Virtual Venture Competition (VVC) hosted this year in Second Life have been announced. SIx teams were chosen from the eleven entrants who competed over a 45-day business building period. Members of the six winning teams spread across 13 countries have been invited to the medieval city of Kitzbühel in Austria for the final in mid November.

Jane McGonigal was named one of the TR35 2006 young innovators changing the world through technology. Her work focuses on improving quality of life through reality-based gaming. She gave a wonderful presentation on Connecting Games with Reality at the Web 2.0 Summit last week.

Currently Lead Game Designer with the Institute for the Future Jane believes that “one of the most important technology trends over the next 3-5 years will be the effort to embed dynamics of network game play in everyday life”. Runtime is 11 minutes and highly recommended viewing.

Nick Wilson invited me to a new Second Life group called Metanomics 07′ yesterday. A link to the above video followed which offers a brief outline to a very ambitious project. Were it anyone else attempting to pull this off I would have my doubts but having watched Nick work his magic over the last 6 months it merits following.

His company Metaversed.com has partnered with Professor Robert Bloomfield at Cornell University to explore and define best practices in virtual business. Topics proposed will be of interest to businesses beginning to tune into a three-layered strategic approach of micro, macro and meta.

Lots of meta-goodness is on its way. Metaverse, metanomics and metabrands are all about to enter the business lexicon over the coming years. If you are interested in participating at the dawning of a Meta Age then Metanomics is highly recommended.

David Adams piece in The Age showcases some Australian entrepreneurs who are carving out niches for themselves within Second Life and Entropia. Looking beyond Davids misreading of the Second Life stats page (reporting turnover of 12.5m Linden dollars during July – it was 12.5m resident transactions) it was interesting to see him mention Dotman World.

Mitch Wagner has written a good primer for businesses considering entering Second Life. In light of the recent love-hate coverage Second Life has received of late it is a timely piece written from the perspective of both a knowledgeable resident and reporter.

One organization who continues to pioneer and experiment with Virtual Worlds is IBM. Its Second Life Business Center, which launched back in May 15th 2007, has attracted 10,000 visitors over the interim. Based on its successful launch IBM announced that it would now be staffed 24/7 Monday through Friday providing global coverage.

According to a 2007 survey by the eLearning Guild, which polled nearly 1,500 of its members, from large and small companies throughout the U.S., 38% of insurance companies are investigating using games for work. In finance, accounting, and banking, that figure was above 50%.

Business Week has a special report titled The Power of Gaming which is recommended reading. It showcases how businesses such as McKinsey, Johnson & Johnson, Sears and Royal Philips Electronics are currently using gaming as recruitment, training and collaboration tools. Market research which previously took cool hunters a year to compile is now readily available in real time globally. Many of the tools we have seen todate are remarkably primitive relative to some of the offerings coming to market over the next 18 months.

Whole new industries are being created by a handful of designers and developers who stepped outside of their respective comfort zones within the gaming and entertainment industries. They are taking advantage of the ever increasing number of platforms becoming both accessible and affordable. Some were present at the fifth annual Edinburgh Interactive Festival whose theme this year was Expanding the Creative Culture of Games. For those interested Andrew Doull did a great job in live blogging many of the sessions.

It is refreshing to see public acknowledgment of the fact that games both entertain and educate. Authors such as John Beck, Steven Johnson and David Shaffer have been banging the drum for a number of years now. With generous benefactors such as the MacArthur Foundation funding digital research projects our awareness and understanding of the opportunities to hand will become more common place.

Having fun with fundamentals is something The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (TRLPO) understands. If you fancy joining TRLPO for a live performance in Second Life on September 14th then register to win a free ticket to the event. It promises to be a new experience for all concerned.

Philip Rosedale incorporated the soon to launch SL Voice feature in his demo at the AlwaysOn Stanford Summit 2007. His follow-on session with Irving Wladawksy-Berger, Chris Sherman, Chris Melissinos moderated by Jaron Lanier titled How Real Is the Virtual Web is recommended viewing.

Reactions to the Club Penguin deal over on Techmeme and the panel discussion at AlwaysOn give a flavor for what casual virtual worlds and virtual goods hold in store for the future. Interesting times indeed.

What percentage of this $2 trillion will flow in-world? Does a brave new world await TV virtually as David Itzkoff discussed in his NYT piece? Will Congress use its upcoming virtual goods taxation report to outline a policy roadmap? All of which puts virtual goods in vogue.