IGF 2023 WS #370 Evolving multistakeholder Internet governance for the future

Subtheme

Global Digital Governance & Cooperation
Multistakeholderism
Role of IGF

Organizer 1: Jordan Carter, 🔒auDA
Organizer 2: Cheryl Langdon-Orr, 🔒
Organizer 3: Annaliese Williams, 🔒.au Domain Administration

Speaker 1: Emily Taylor, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Javier Rua-Jovet, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 3: Akinori MAEMURA, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Audrey Tang, Government, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 5: Paul Wilson, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group

Moderator

Jordan Carter, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Online Moderator

Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Rapporteur

Annaliese Williams, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Format

Round Table - 60 Min

Policy Question(s)

A. How can the Internet governance model be changed to account for the challenges it is not being seen to address?
B. How can the technical community and existing internet governance institutions better support multistakeholder approaches to solving diverse internet-related policy problems?
C. What can drive improved legitimacy of Internet governance, to help improve trust in it and in the Internet more broadly?

What will participants gain from attending this session? Outcomes we hope participants will gain include:
* Shared knowledge of stakeholder views on how to evolve the Internet governance system.
* New ideas they can reflect on as they develop their own views and share them with their local internet communities.
* An understanding of the breadth and diversity of proposals and ideas to enable the internet governance system to be ready and to have the necessary flexibility to shape the Internet’s future

SDGs

Description:

Today’s Internet is evolving and developing fast. Its social impact is profound. Its economic impact has now extended to the point where most forms of commerce are dependent upon its smooth functioning. The multistakeholder model has served us well – it has supported innovation and social and economic development but as the Internet evolves, so must its governance framework.

The Internet today is presenting new challenges that the current governance framework was not designed to solve. There are also gaps in the breadth and depth of participation in Internet governance that weaken its ability to do its core functions or consider ways to solve the broader challenges - let alone prepare for the future.

Future development of the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance needs to start with an understanding that not all stakeholders feel that they are included in that model.

To build and rebuild trust in the Internet and to shape its evolution, Internet governance needs diverse participation from all stakeholder groups. It must be inclusive and open, not limited to certain counties or certain stakeholders. The same applies to other emerging technologies - they need open, multistakeholder governance too.

This session will explore what Internet governance should look like in the future. For example, can the current multistakeholder institutional and coordination initiatives adapt to solve new problems or are new initiatives are needed to better align existing processes better and drive innovation and economic development for all?

This session will share and seek participant perspectives on concrete ideas for evolving the governance framework so it can be fit for the future, and provide context and input to other processes such as the Global Digital Compact, and the WSIS+20 review.

Expected Outcomes

Two main outcomes will be:
1. Increased understanding across the diverse stakeholder groups of the perspectives people hold on whether and if so how to change the Internet governance system.
2. Sharing of concrete perspectives, proposals and suggestions for particular ways to evolve the Internet governance system.
Organisers will summarise the dialogue and share it in a publication following the IGF, as an input for community use in processes such as the Global Digital Compact and the WSIS+20 review.

Hybrid Format: Through the round-table we will have at least one off-site initial speaker. Then once the initial panel has spoken we will vary between on-site and off-site interventions. We would aim to use the standard participation tools of the IGF (i.e. Zoom) to manage this. We may use online polling such as sli.do to get further input - working on this thinking.