On 11–12 May 2026, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) hosts the 3rd UN Virtual Worlds Day in Geneva, an increasingly influential platform for governments to translate AI ambition into deployable public infrastructure. For Latin America, the relevance is immediate: this is where policy, standards and investment pathways converge around AI, spatial intelligence and digital twins, now framed as the “AI-enabled citiverse.”

For regulators, mayors and ministers across the region, the opportunity is twofold. First, direct exposure to operational models already being deployed in cities such as Dubai or Valencia, from real-time urban simulations to AI-driven service delivery. Second, engagement with the standards and governance frameworks that determine whether these systems can scale across diverse institutional and economic contexts in Latin America.

The timing matters. Many countries in the region are advancing digital public infrastructure and smart city programmes. The next phase is integration: moving from pilots to interoperable systems that connect transport, energy, housing and social services. This is where Geneva is focused on architectures, not concepts.

A central theme is how AI enters the policy cycle. In citiverse environments, governments can simulate infrastructure investments, climate strategies or mobility reforms before implementation. For public authorities, this shifts decision-making from reactive to predictive while raising regulatory requirements on transparency, auditability and data governance.

“UN Virtual Worlds Day is about moving from vision to implementation. Cities now need common standards and trusted frameworks to scale AI-driven solutions in a way that is interoperable, secure and inclusive,” says Cristina Bueti, ITU Focal Point on Smart Cities & AI and Virtual Worlds.

Financing remains a constraint. While leading cities access blended finance, scaling across mid-sized cities in Latin America is still unresolved. The event will highlight outcome-based models linking digital twin deployments to emissions reduction, efficiency and resilience, alongside the role of development banks in de-risking investment.

Institutional coordination is equally critical. AI-enabled systems cut across silos, requiring shared data layers across sectors. For governments, this is fundamentally a governance challenge: orchestrating systems while ensuring inclusion and trust.

“The citiverse concept demonstrates how digital twins and AI can transform urban governance. The priority now is ensuring that these systems are built on global standards so they can be replicated and trusted across different regions,” notes Hyoung Jun Kim, Chair of ITU-T Study Group 20.

Participation is flexible. Delegations can join in Geneva or remotely, ensuring accessibility across the region, while engaging in high-level dialogues including the Ambassadors’ Roundtable linked to the Global Digital Compact.

As Latin America accelerates its digital transformation, the message is clear: the technology is ready. The challenge and opportunity lies in aligning standards, governance and financing to deliver impact at scale.

The UN Virtual Worlds Day is co-organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) alongside 19 UN entities, including the UN Secretariat, FAO, ITC-ILO, UNDP, UN Guatemala, UN-Habitat, UNJSPF, UNICC, UNECA, UNECE, UNECLAC, UNICEF, UNRISD, UN Tourism, UNU-EGOV, WIPO, WMO, and the World Bank. Register at: https://www.itu.int/un-virtual-worlds-day/2026/