Introduction to IGF2020 and IGF Key Session Highlights by IGF Youth Ambassadors 2020 – Allan Ochola

Introduction to IGF2020 and IGF Key Session Highlights by IGF Youth Ambassadors 2020 – Allan Ochola

Introduction:

In recent years, the majority of countries have experienced positive growth and development of the internet. In order to expand and sustain the positive trends, countries need to prioritize investments in development and widespread use of the internet as a means of reducing the digital divide through multistakeholder approaches.

The hope is that increased multistakeholder engagements will translate into innovation or expanded knowledge, which would greatly assist to address the most pressing internet governance needs.

Coming at the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first phase of the 15th Annual IGF was hosted online with the support of the United Nations from 2-6th November 2020.

The primary goal of the forum which included pre-events, open forums, dynamic coalition sessions, NRIs, thematic introductory sessions, and the first-ever youth IGF 2020 summit was to develop strategies to increase Internet for human resilience and solidarity as part of the 2020 overarching theme, with special focus on developing people-centered approaches and ensuring inclusion in key internet governance conversations.

The forum also provided a platform to showcase the research and best practices taking place across the world, and provided a platform for various stakeholders to network. Some of the key issues were discussed under the thematic tracks of; Trust, Inclusion, Data, and Environment.

Key Session Highlights:

UNESCO’s launch of IGF Dynamic Coalition on Internet Universality ROAM-X Indicators and presentation of national assessments

The Session was opened by Guy Berger, who shared a presentation on improving the Net: Applying UNESCO’s Internet universality ROAM indicators for evidence-based policymaking. Through the session, we learned methodologies used in developing policy for internet universality indicators with Benin, Kenya, and Senegal having finalized their reports and are now available on the UNESCO website for download.

Speakers from Africa and the Asia Pacific and Arab states took to the floor to share their internet universality assessment reports with UNESCO offering to be a partner to implement their recommendations and policy gaps. The session also witnessed the launch of a dynamic coalition of internet universality indicators drawing speakers from the internet society, IGF secretariat and MAG Chair with a multistakeholder approach lauded as the key to its success. 

The final report is scheduled to be released at the next IGF and UNESCO is working to create a single portal where all data on internet universality indicators and assessments can be accessed.

Internet Society’s Collaborative Leadership Exchange (CLX)

The session was opened by Alejandra. She highlighted six key internet society projects which formed part of the webinar discussion points namely community networks, encryption, internet, and community development, the internet way of networking, security global routing and time security, and two topics of interest namely the future of IGF and the Internet and COVID-19.

The community network sessions highlighted the importance of the internet as being an essential and a part of our daily lives including connecting the unconnected as soon as possible. Challenges of regulator buy-in and communication infrastructures were highlighted as key impediments to the development of community networks.

Further, the need to develop different approaches to create community networks since there is no size fill all approach for ensuring reliable connectivity was highlighted.

The role of internet society and infrastructure and development in bringing the technical community both in academia and the private sector to discuss key issues and develop collaborative activities to develop access to information and connectivity was also underscored.

The need to organize national and regional forums where experts can share their expertise was also rooted.  The need and importance of encryption to protect privacy, information, and the right to online decent without government interventions were also elaborated.

Introduction to IGF2020 and IGF Key Session Highlights by IGF Youth Ambassadors 2020

Strengthening Implementation Capacities for AI Ethics

The session was led by UNESCO with participation from the technical community, academia, and civil society and discussed topics on how AI ethics principles can be translated into practice, what kind of human and institutional capacities are needed to govern a responsible and human-centered artificial intelligence.

The voice of the civil society emerged as an important step in filling the gaps in artificial intelligence innovation especially in developing protocols, pathways to an independent audit, and certifications of AI especially on the explainability of algorithms.

The role of open access and the future of AI was also articulated by the panelists. During the session, it also emerged that the multistakeholder process is in deep crisis especially among the political class who do not have the required digital, ecological, and cultural to create new smart governance mechanisms.

Developing new measures of success of AI that is a multidisciplinary and common language through dialogue to build ethics for AI was highlighted by the business community.

‘Continue the dialogue but move to action’ was the closing slogan.

 African Union Open Forum

The session was opened by the chair of AU MAG who briefed the participants on the preparations regarding the African IGF scheduled to take place at the end of November. The need to fast track the formation of an African parliamentary network supported by PRIDA was also highlighted to support Internet governance debate among the parliamentarians.

PRIDA has completed the development of the nation IGF toolkit to help countries set up their national IGF meetings and training content to help set up schools of internet governance. The AU committed to leverage on the Africa continental free trade agreement to transform and secure a digital single market by 2030 and ensure all people are digitally empowered and be able to access high-quality internet speed at a reduced cost through devices manufactured in the continent.

The Criticality of the Internet for SIDS in a global crisis

The session was held in a round table discussion bringing together various stakeholders to highlight the key role of the internet during the COVID-19 pandemic especially within the small islands developing states. Collaborative initiatives such as the Pacific IGF, Pacific women in ICT Pacific disability forum, were highlighted as practices that have emerged during the pandemic where discussions such as cybersecurity and other pacific specific issues are underway.

Indeed, the panelists acknowledged that COVID-19 played a key role in accelerating major ICT developments in the region while also highlighting gaps in meaningful connectivity, policy discussions in digital payments, and the development of digital local content.

The Digital transformation created by the pandemic was noted as the new way of life which should be embraced by the governments. Digital literacy and education to create competent class contributors to take a place in the evolving landscape were also discussed as a key pillar to ensuring the full benefits of ICT.

Personal Sovereignty: Digital Trust in the Algorithmic Age -Friday, 6 November 2020

The Session was led by IEEE with the aim of initiating conversations around creating online trustworthy experiences. The panelist highlighted the need to balance between personal sovereignty and privacy of data, especially during the covid-19 pandemic.

The role of GDPR in data protection was also highlighted as a means of protecting user data.  Access to personal data by the users was underscored as a means of ensuring trust.

Invisible risks regarding digital technologies need to be put forward for them to be addressed in order to preserve user dignity. The role of standards was highlighted as enablers of making best practices accessible to all different actors.

By Allan Ochola

Edited by Connie Siu M.H.

November 20, 2020 Events, IGF Youth Ambassadors No comments yet

Youth SIG + YCIG sessions at the IGF2020

The Youth SIG in collaboration with the Youth Coalition on Internet Governance (YCIG) is going to host 3 workshops at the IGF2020. Read below the description of the sessions and save the date in your calendar!

WS #105 Designing inclusion policies in Internet Governance

Time and date: Monday 9 November at 12:10-13:40 UTC

Organizer 1: Mamadou Lo , DIPLO
Organizer 2: Eileen Cejas , Youth Observatory
Organizer 3: Juan Pajaro Velasquez, Ruta Trans
Organizer 4: Sevinj Aliyeva, Video Bilik; Beetech LLC
Organizer 5: Vallarie Wendy Yiega, Youth IGF

Speaker 1: Mamadou Lo , Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 2: Eileen Cejas , Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 3: Mohammand N. Azizi, Government, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Meri Baghdasaryan, Civil Society, Eastern European Group
Speaker 5: Debora Barletta, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Online Moderator: Juan Pajaro Velasquez, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC); Abdias Zambrano, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC).

Rapporteur: Vallarie Wendy Yiega, Civil Society, African Group.

Description:

The session will start with the short introduction of the speakers (20 minutes) where they will speak on key points of their countries’ region in terms of inclusion; followed by a group discussion in blocks regarding the 5 topics.

The discussion will include

1-. Gender perspectives impact on Internet matters related to policy drafting 

2- Techniques to include people from rural, indigenous and remote areas into digital literacy. 

3- Policy making processes centred around people with disabilities

4- Markets and Economic inequalities: when prices & taxes prevent people from being connected 

5- Governments & human rights: guaranteeing our digital rights to include more voices connected. 

After the presentation of each speaker, we will share a document where we will introduce 3 blocks with 2 topics (40 minutes). 

  1. Firstly, we will address the topic of “Gender perspectives in Internet Governance matters” and “Economic inequalities” where we will make 4 policy questions for each sub-theme; 
  2. then the second block we will discuss “the role of governments and human rights” and “digital literacy for marginalised communities”; 
  3. and the final block will be “analysing policies in disabilities matters” and a generally summary on “policy making processes in general” 

Once we finish the second segment of the session, we will continue with the collective design of the online campaign, using a mind map the last 20 minutes of the session.This mind map will help us to design the campaign and therefore produce the outcome some weeks after the IGF2020 . The online campaign will be extremely important to raise awareness on young people towards inclusion in Internet Governance.

WS #139 CopyLeft or Right? Mediating Interests in Academic Databases

Time and Date: 11 November 16:50-18:20 UTC

Organizer 1: Elnur Karimov, Internet Society Youth Special Interest Group (Youth Observatory)
Organizer 2: María Merchán-Rocamora, PhD candidate Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques de Paris
Organizer 3: Daniel Jr Dasig, De La Salle University Dasmarinas
Organizer 4: Pedro de Perdigão Lana, GEDAI/UFPR
Organizer 5: Kamalanetra A Hung Low, Pineapple Laboratories
Organizer 6: Shadrach Ankrah, Ghana IGF

Speaker 1: Vivian Moya, Government, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 2: Mariana Valente, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 3: Thierry Nathanael Kopia , Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 4: Elnur Karimov, Civil Society, Eastern European Group

Moderator: Kamalanetra A Hung Low, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Online Moderator: Shadrach Ankrah, Technical Community, African Group
Rapporteur: Pedro de Perdigão Lana, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

Description: Mediation (90 minutes) The mediation will begin with the moderator/mediator’s opening speech that will touch the challenges and possible solution models to the open and affordable access to academic databases posed by intellectual property rights of both database owners and authors. Then, the moderator will introduce the mediating parties (speakers in the list below). The presentation delivered by each speaker will focus on the interest in academic databases as a particular stakeholder group and their recommended solutions and will help the audience to better understand the expectations of mediating parties (speakers). The speakers will represent government, private sector, civil society and the youth’s approach to open academic databases. In particular, the session audience will have an opportunity to listen to the perspective of the private sector and state authority on copyright protection, Creative Commons organization, and the youth on open access to databases. The first two speeches will be followed by a Q&A session both with online and onsite audiences who will address their questions to the speakers and contribute to the mediation. During the Q&A session, the moderator, with the help of the rapporteur, will collect the common/similar solutions raised by the speakers. After the Q&A session, the moderator will speak about the common points identified. The mediation will follow the same structure with the remaining two speakers. Finally, the moderator will collect all common points and add them in a final document which will symbolically be called “A Resolution Agreement”. The session will continue with the symbolic signature ceremony of the agreement by parties which will reflect the agreed policy, and conclude with the moderator’s closing remarks. Distinctively, this session will introduce a solution-oriented approach by not only listening to the speakers from different interests but trying to mediate them to reach a deal. The session is nurtured from the practical advantages of mediation methodology, which means that by mediation the session will reach its purpose of finding tangible outputs on open databases that will serve the interests of all stakeholder groups. The methodology will make the speakers think more practical and solution-oriented. The moderator will play a key role in facilitating discussions and bringing the parties closer. The intended agenda of the session is as follows: Opening speech by Moderator/Mediator – 10 minutes The 1st Speaker (Private Sector) – 10 minutes The 2nd Speaker (Civil Society) – 10 minutes Q&A Session – 10 minutes Mediator’s Comments – 5 minutes The 3rd Speaker (Youth) – 10 minutes The 4th Speaker (Government) – 10 minutes Q&A Session – 10 minutes Mediator’s Comments – 5 minutes A Symbolic Ceremony of Signature of Resolution Agreement – 5 minutes Closing speech by Moderator/Mediator – 5 minutes

WS #273 Enhancing sustainable computing, production & consumption

Time and Date: 12 November 12:20-13:20 UTC

Organizer 1: Mohammad Atif Aleem, Youth Special Interest Group, Internet Society
Organizer 2: Emilia Zalewska, LegalTech Polska
Organizer 3: Jaewon Son, Korea Internet Governance Alliance
Organizer 4: Ashwin Reddy, 8FX
Organizer 5: Lily Edinam Botsyoe, Ghyrate Ghana

Speaker 1: Mohammad Atif Aleem, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 2: Chineyenwa Okoro Onu, Private Sector, African Group
Speaker 3: Daniel Jr Dasig, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Jaewon Son, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group

Moderator: Ece Vural, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Online Moderator: Lily Edinam Botsyoe, Technical Community, African Group
Rapporteur: Ashwin Reddy, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group

Description: Reports and analysis are to an increasing degree pointing at that Status quo in production will have serious consequences such as; environmental (deforestation, GHG emissions, biodiversity loss), economical (yield and productivity gaps, unpredictable and insufficient livelihoods for (smallholder) farmers) and societal (malnutrition, obesity). Furthermore, the burden and risk is un-evenly distributed in the value chain of food cycle. At the same time, growing conscious digital consumers with increasing demand for more advanced computing ways is trending at the moment. Following, to satisfy such growing requirement of sustainable computing, production and consumption and how it can undo the effects of Climate change and degradation of environment is a vital subject of discussion How can newer ways of computing and digital advances in production and consumption improving the life cycle of people and changing the course in the milieu of the 4th Industrial Revolution is what our panelists going to talk about and share their experiences in various fields where these changes were inevitable and vital. These are some issues on which the round table discussion will be centered upon and try to engage audience on the means of attaining sustainable growth enhancing production, consumption and computation capabilities from erudite speakers of different viewpoints and stakeholder groups.

We also strongly recommend participation in other sessions proposed and organized by young people and other youth organizations.

See you at IGF 2020!

November 6, 2020 Events No comments yet

Youth4DigitalSustainability: 12 recommendations from youth

As part of the #Youth4DigitalSustainability project, 50 experts under 30 from all parts of the world have developed twelve recommendations for the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the Internet. We are happy to say 5 of our Youth SIG board members have been involved in the process of creating the messages within the 4 Working Groups, including Lily Edinam Bostyoe, Juliana Novaes, Eileen Cejas, Elnur Karimov, and Mohammad Atif Aleem.

These are now presented to the United Nation’s Internet Governance Forum.

The Internet and digital technologies contribute significantly to global CO2 emissions, e-waste is a cross-border challenge and global inequalities are increasing. Digital policy and the climate crisis are two issues that particularly affect young people. Therefore, the Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI) has called on young experts from Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America to analyze the social, economic and ecological sustainability effects of digitization in the project #Youth4DigitalSustainability. The aim was to develop solutions that go beyond a purely German or European perspective.

Twelve concrete demands emerged from the working process, which lasted several months, in four working groups focusing on environment, economy, society and governance. Key aspects of these demands include environmentally friendly Internet access, circular economy, the inclusion of marginalized groups, and the democratization of the sustainability discourse. The complete paper is available to download.

These are the 12 recommendations:

  1. We should actively strive to mitigate the environmental impact of the Internet and ICTs. Both public and private stakeholders should strengthen collaboration by following a framework that allows for responsible growth, consumption of digital resources, and promotion of innovation;
  2. Promoting access to the Internet and other ICTs is inherently a matter of sustainability. If we want to connect the next billion, we must do so in an eco-friendly way, taking into consideration the significant environmental impacts that digitalization comprehends;
  3. The environmental impact of the Internet and ICTs must be communicated in an accessible and effective language. It’s important to compel stakeholders to action by framing the environmental crisis as an opportunity for change, while being based on scientifically accurate information;
  4. Businesses should champion diversity and sustainability by (1) hiring C-Suite representatives and/or consulting subject matter experts and (2) strengthening their commitment towards principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion and ecological digital infrastructure;
  5. Governments should offer economic incentives to businesses that commit to a circular economy model and Fair Trade standards, in order to re-imagine supply chains that discourage e-waste, and improve the quality of life of those residing in emerging economies;
  6. Businesses should create an open data environment to promote transparency. By acquiring user consent and anonymizing personal data, businesses can demonstrate their commitment to carbon neutral and humane practices that encourage behavioral changes in consumption practices;
  7. Youth accounts for one out of three active users of media content platforms. Such platforms need to assure youth representation in internal advisory bodies and self-regulation processes to improve on the decisions that affect this age group;
  8. Big Tech and other companies that produce Internet products and services should have more indigenous languages built into automated translation tools and technologies to help bridge the language barriers and Western cultural bias of the Internet;
  9. Women and gender diverse people are facing restrictions in accessing information on the Internet and participating meaningfully. To establish healthy and equal societies, youths should urge governments and civil societies to guarantee the rights to freedom of online expression for these communities;
  10. We urge states to pursue cross-border alliances in the governance of the Internet as a shared resource based on democratic ideals. Entities collecting and managing data should adopt alternative forms of data governance that grant individuals greater control over their data;
  11. Rules for AI and standards for ethical AI should be formulated through a multistakeholder approach rather than by technology companies. AI systems should be audited based on these rules by external parties for fairness and their working should be made transparent to the public;
  12. The companies that develop and sell AI systems should be held accountable for them and any entity that uses these systems should implement a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system throughout the lifetime of the system

Make sure to register to the “WS #231 Youth&Sustainability: Creating change through collaboration” and get to know more what activists and experts of environmental advocacy and Internet governance will deliberate on how digital sustainability can be mainstreamed in Internet governance discoursed, and where the movements for climate justice, and for the inclusive, open, and accessible Internet intersect. Link here

Source: https://yigf.de/news/12-youth-recommendations-for-a-sustainable-internet/

November 2, 2020 Events No comments yet
Youth Observatory report on the YouthLACIGF 2020

Youth Observatory report on the YouthLACIGF 2020

YouthLACIGF is an annual initiative that began in 2016 from the growing community of young people in Latin America and the Caribbean interested in being part of the dialogues that take place for the development of the Internet.

Pages: 1 2 3 4

September 26, 2020 Events No comments yet

Youth4DigitalSustainability: 1-1 session + invitation to webinars

The Internet offers many opportunities for communication, development, and collaboration, but we can also acknowledge concerning environmental, social, and economic effects of digitality. Young people are at the forefront of advocacy for a more sustainable world, and have impact on policy development. For the UN Internet Governance Forum 2020, the Youth4DigitalSustainability Program wants to highlight the opportunities of digital sustainability and point the way forward.

The key policy topics that this program is concerned with are: Greening the Internet, Fair Digital Businesses, Internet for Social Good, and Sustainable Internet Governance. For each, a global working group is established in order to draft policy recommendations to be presented to decision-makers in the public and private sectors, civil society, academia, and the technical community.

Youth who are between 16 and 30 years of age from across the globe are part of these working groups and we are happy to inform that Lily Edinam Botsyoe (Secretary), Juliana Novaes (Global Engagement Director), Eileen Cejas (Regional Engagement Director-Latin America and the Caribbean region), Elnur Karimov (Regional Engagement Director- Eastern Europe region) and Mohammad Atif Aleem (Regional Engagement Director- Asia Pacific region) were selected for this program along with other active members of Youth Observatory also have been chosen to work in the above mentioned 4 working groups.

Young people in all world regions, with diverse backgrounds and levels of professional and academic experience are contributing through this interesting initiative.

On August 16, Elnur Karimov had a 1-1 online session with Elisabeth , organiser of the Youth4DigitalSustainability Program. You can watch the recording and read the slides here

Register in the links below to participate of the webinars:

Webinar 1: Greening the Internet

August 20, 2020; 4 PM-5PM/16:00-17:00 CEST (Berlin Time)

Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3035337496791218702

Webinar 2: Fair Digital Businesses

August 27, 2020, 4PM-5PM/16:00-17:00 CEST (Berlin Time)

Link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3106850832574131470

Webinar 3: Internet for Social Good

September 3, 2020, 4PM-5PM/16:00-17:00 CEST (Berlin Time)

Link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/607881904476491022

Webinar 4: Sustainable Internet Governance

September 14, 2020, 4PM-5PM/16:00-17:00 CEST (Berlin Time)

Link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/9118174471230220814

August 7, 2020 Events No comments yet

YouthLACIGF Ambassadors 2020 (Open Course Finalists)

The COVID-19 pandemic presented several challenges to the Youth Observatory and young people all around the world, but it also opened doors to develop innovative ways to continue fostering the Internet as a force for good.

After deciding that the YouthLACIGF would happen as an online event, the Organizing Committee of this regional forum debated on the best way to adapt the Fellowship Program and select the YouthLACIGF Ambassadors of 2020.

The solution was to plan and implement an Open Course from May 15th to July 10th, free and available to all young people of the Latin America and the Caribbean region (https://youthlacigf.org/open-course/). This initiative was supported by the Internet Society learning staff who provided modules of the course “Shaping the Internet: History and Futures” to complement the educational resources, based on texts and weekly webinars with selected speakers from different countries.

After starting with 70 valid registrations, besides a few others who unfortunately could not be accepted because they were from outside the LAC region or above 30 years, we ended the Open Course with 7 finalists. We are happy to announce the YouthLACIGF Ambassadors 2020:

  • Benjamin Chong Castillo
  • Eduarda Costa
  • Eliz Marina Bariviera de Lima
  • Giovana Carneiro
  • Juan Guillermo Coronel
  • Lucas Henrique Muniz da Conceição
  • Natanael Xavier de França Filho

We would like to share with our community two of the reviews written by the participants at the end of the course:

“The course far exceeded my expectations. The combination of the course content, webinars and feedback from assignments was a perfect match. I think it is a very interesting course because the content in general is very good and necessary for the new generations. Also, I think that the professional diversity of the speakers in each module made the course more productive and not monotonous. (…) However, it is a completely satisfactory course that should have a lot of promotion because you really learn a lot and its content is essential for the challenges we currently face with the Internet.”

“The course structure is excellent, even though we did not follow the exact order of the material provided by ISOC. The study material was always complemented by different approaches and perspective by the guest speakers, and the discussion forums allowed for a deeper debate of the themes analyzed during the week. Overall, a great experience for the students who participated. (…)”

The Youth Observatory would like to congratulate the YouthLACIGF Ambassadors 2020, hope to continue seeing them as a part of Internet Governance youth initiatives, and wish for a fruitful YouthLACIGF for everyone!

Registrations to the Youth LACIGF are open until September the 4th:

[ESP] https://ti.to/youthlacigf/youthlacigf2020/es

[PT] https://ti.to/youthlacigf/youthlacigf2020/pt

[FR] https://ti.to/youthlacigf/youthlacigf2020/fr

[ENG] https://ti.to/youthlacigf/youthlacigf2020/en

August 7, 2020 Fellowships No comments yet

Youth SIG is part of the Global Citizens’ Dialogue in Argentina

The Youth SIG (also known as Youth Observatory) is participating at the Global Stakeholders’ Dialogue as a National Strategic Partner for Argentina for the We The Internet. This initiative is launched by Missions Publiques, a high impact social entrepeneur founded in 1998 and localy boosted by our Regional Engagement Director for Latin America and the Caribbean region Eileen Cejas in Argentina.

We, The Internet is a two phases global event: first, there was the Global Stakeholders’ Dialogue in June 2020, and the second phase is composed by the Global Citizens’ Dialogue, happening in October 2020.

Global Stakeholders Dialogue

At the Global Stakeholders’ Dialogue, stakeholders from around the world participated in the deliberation regarding the three model of arquitecture of digital cooperation, which were picked by the High Level Panel in Digital Cooperation of the UN to be discussed by the global stakeholders. The second phase is composed by the Global Citizens’ Dialogue, happening in October 2020.

Photo updated by Paola Gálvez from Twitter: “#WetheInternet stakeholders’ dialogue last session has started to discuss about #digitalcooperation Glad to be here!!”

After the Global Stakeholders’ Dialogue, the gathered recommendations made by the attendees of the event were compiled into a report, which was shared as one of the recommendations collected by the German government as part of the High Level Panel follow-up process. Moreover, the results of the event are part of the process for the Roadmap of Digital Cooperation issued by the UN Secretary General’s office.

Some of the recommendations collected at the Global Stakeholders’ Dialogue were:

1. A shift is required towards a hybrid architecture for the future of Digital Cooperation.
2. Providing the right resources in a fair way is key to impactful Digital Cooperation.
3. Improving effective inclusion must be at the heart of governance reform.
4. Greater coordination and cooperation is required between stakeholders and the different bodies.
5. Transparency and guidance are essential in navigating the complex system.
6. Trust must be established with transparent, fair coordination and effective, stable leadership.
7. The IGF+ needs to move from a discussion forum to a decision-making body.

Upcoming Global Citizens’ Dialogue

On October 10th and 11st of 2020, the Youth SIG in Argentina will host the local version of the Global Citizens’ Dialogue, where inhabits from all around Argentina will discuss these thematic areas:

-Internet and me

-Digital Identity

-Digital Public Sphere

-Artificial Intelligence

-Data Privacy

In order to introduce attendees into these themaric areas, the We The Internet Argentina team will facilitate an online introductory webinar (‘Conversatorio virtual’) on August 17. More details on registration are available here (only available for Argentina).

If you are from Argentina, you can check the We The Internet Argentina website for further details : www.wetheinternet.com.ar.

Other countries and organizations participating of this initiative:

August 1, 2020 Events 1 comment
Block chain Technology

Blockchain and Elections: Is the Technology able to save us from Electoral Fraud?

The popularity of virtual currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Ripple has increased interest in blockchain technology.

July 7, 2020 IT, Science No comments yet
Youth IGF Past Fellows

Youth IGF Past Fellows

IGF has always been the center of attraction amongst all the Internet Governance enthusiasts. We published a call on the blog asking the past fellows to share a photo of themselves as a Youth Fellow/Ambassador

July 2, 2020 Events, Fellowships, IGF Youth Ambassadors No comments yet

YCIG at EuroDIG2020: Youth perspectives on the way forward in IG

Written by Mili Semlani and Meri Baghdasaryan (YCIG Steering Committee). This article was originally posted at YCIG’s website. You can find the original post here.

The youth DC session–Youth Coalition on Internet Governance enabled its Dynamic Coalition members and partners to express and exchange views on the current state of affairs in the field of youth participation in the Internet Governance ecosystem at the pre event session hosted at EuroDIG 2020. 

The session explored some of the European initiatives that have been launched to enhance youth participation in internet governance after Youth IGF Summit held in Berlin in 2019. And it was aimed at creating synergies and finding common topics among regional youth movements and initiatives to conduct capacity enhancement projects and much more.

Developments after Youth IGF Summit 2019 

Carrying forward from the YCIG session at IGF in 2019, Elisabeth Schauermann, YouthDIG/ Youth IGF Summit 2019 reflected on the first ever Youth IGF Summit at Berlin in 2019 that was supported by last year’s IGF country host Germany. As a pre event to IGF 2019, it was an effective platform where youth from all over the world came together to share their messages.

While it was successful, the efforts did not just stop there. Youth participation should anchor all public policy and for this it is important to enable youth with necessary support and resources to participate in internet governance and policy making.

Further, Nika Bakhsoliani, Member of Advisory council on youth, Council of Europe and member of COVID-19 task force of the joint council, highlighted the importance of understanding the concept of meaningful youth participation, which entails that the youth has the necessary means, opportunities and space to participate in and influence decision making processes. Speaking of the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, Nika mentioned that the ongoing issues have been exacerbated, particularly affecting the marginalized youth and youth organisations. 

National Youth IGF movements

Veronica Birindelli, Youth IGF Italy and Joao Pedro Martins, Lusophone Youth IGF, Portugal; spoke about how to start Youth IGFs in their respective countries. While Portugal worked with other Portuguese speaking countries to reach out to a larger crowd, Italy worked with grassroots organisations and went from a 3-people team to a larger community. 

In addition to bringing in computer science students and tech enthusiasts, yIGF organisers also felt the need to speak to young people about the other issues like online safety, etc. that affect everyone in their own way. 

They also suggested that greater synergies amongst youth IGF initiatives across the world will be helpful so they can share content, topics, support etc. Being listed as an official youth initiative on IGF’s website is also helpful in gaining credibility. 

Being a part of youth IGFs enables youth to better engage at IGF main events. It also facilitates collaboration and building independent youth communities also facilitates adding real messages to the global debate.

The way forward

Noha Ashraf, YCIG steering committee member, presented the YCIG questionnaire which saw a greater need for not only tech related topics but also cross cutting ones like interaction of human rights with technology. 

Elnur Karimov,  EEG Regional Engagement Director for Youth Observatory shared his views on Youth Observatory’s (Youth SIG) growing global presence. In 2019, Youth Observatory (YouthSIG) had projects like Creative Networks which was a project competition where the winners attended IGF 2019 and Youth Atlas which highlighted engaged youth in IG from all over the world. Elnur also pointed out current engagement activities for Youth Observatory members like the Regional Activities.

In short,  it goes without saying that youth has a lot to offer to the Internet Governance ecosystem, from organising the first ever global Youth IGF Summit and  initiating national youth IGF movements to bringing the youth perspective and coming up with solutions to such unprecedented issues such as COVID-19 pandemic, together with different stakeholders. 

With COVID-19 pandemic still underway, the community strives to continue working towards enhancement of youth participation in the Internet Governance ecosystem, advance the capacity building programs and initiatives and bring the youth voice to the global discussions and processes. 

Therefore, in order to create synergies between various youth movements all over the globe, we need to define the common goals for these youth initiatives/movements and deliberate upon which formats, tools and frameworks can be applied for reaching these goals. Share with us your opinion in the comments. 

You may access the recording of the full YCIG session here

Written by Mili Semlani and Meri Baghdasaryan (YCIG Steering Committee). This article was originally posted at YCIG’s website. You can find the original post here.

June 29, 2020 Events No comments yet