What's Governing WEB3?

This symposium is an in-person event and will not be broadcast online. Recordings of the individual sessions will be available on the ADM+S YouTube channel after the event.


Web3 is a "decentralized online ecosystem based on blockchain” (Gavin Wood, 2014).  


A wave of governance experimentation is occurring within web3, which will shape how protocols evolve and whose interests they serve.

This full-day public conference will feature international and local speakers discussing field-defining research on the question of ‘what’s governing web3?’. 

Join us for a keynote by Primavera De Filippi (Harvard and Paris University): “Web3, Metaverse and our digital future” 

Plus: 

• Two live podcast recordings: a Disconnect episode on Indigenous blockchain governance (hosted by Tyson Yunkaporta & Ellie Rennie, supported by Telstra); a Mint & Burn interview on the Validator Commons (hosted by Kelsie Nabben).  
• Opening talk by Jason Potts (RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub) on “Field-building Web3” 
• Panels on DAO governance and regulatory issues facing web3
• Post-event reception - details to be announced shortly

Featuring speakers from RMIT’s Blockchain Innovation Hub and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society: Jason Potts, Ellie Rennie, Chris Berg, and Kelsie Nabben, as well as guest speakers Primavera De Filippi (Harvard/Paris Uni), Joshua Tan (Stanford/Oxford), Michael Zargham (BlockScience), Tara Merk (Paris University), Morshed Mannan (EUI), Eric Alston (Colorado Uni), Alex Sims (Auckland Uni), Jamilya Kamalova (Paris Uni/Kleros), Dev Lewis (Digital Asia Hub), Theodor Buetel (SafeDAO), Robert O’Brien (yümi), Michael Bacina, Steven Pettigrove (Piper Alderman), Joni Pirovich (BADASL/LawFi DAO), Anna Weichselbraun (University of Vienna), Kaitlin Beegle (Filecoin) and more.  

This "What's Governing Web3?" public conference is part of a 4-day event, which includes fully subscribed research workshops and an open invitation community meet-up (featuring a panel discussing DAOStar).   Click here for more information and registeration details for the Community Meetup.

About web3 governance:

Web3 governance broadly describes the rules and processes that are used for decision-making over platforms and applications that are ‘permissionless’ - meaning anyone with the required resources and capital can take part. It occurs through the software and infrastructure choices of node operators who are unknown to each other, yet whose decisions influence the security and direction of blockchain protocols. Governance at the application layer typically involves decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), which automate some governance processes through smart contracts. Legal and policy frameworks are being developed worldwide that attempt to accommodate or constrain web3.    

Keynote: Everyone is talking about the metaverse as the new frontier of the digital age. But what exactly is the metaverse, and how does it compare with the Internet? What are the new social, economic and political opportunities it provides, and how can we leverage them to promote progress and innovation? Can the metaverse help us escape from the limitations of the physical world? Can it help us build a more inclusive and abundant society? Or is it simply replicating - or even exacerbating - the current state of affairs?  Ultimately, it all boils down to the question of ownership. If those who control the Internet control the present, those who control the metaverse will control the future.  How can we ensure that the metaverse is not controlled by a few centralised operators, but rather emerges as a global and interconnected network of interoperable universes? And how can we ensure that the virtual resources that circulate on the metaverse are actually owned by the people? This is where the blockchain comes to the rescue. 

Contact us: For further information about this event, please visit the event site here or contact us directly at wgw3conference@rmit.edu.au