IGF 2023 WS #6 Digital Institutions: Role of Youth in Emerging Technologies

Organizer 1: Gabriel Karsan, 🔒Ongea Na Demokrasia
Organizer 2: Lily Edinam Botsyoe, 🔒
Organizer 3: CATHERINE R. KIMAMBO, African Child Projects/ Basic internet Foundation
Organizer 4: Innocent Adriko, Victoria University

Speaker 1: Lily Edinam Botsyoe, Technical Community, African Group
Speaker 2: CATHERINE R. KIMAMBO, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 3: Innocent Adriko, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 4: Ihita Gangavarapu, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 5: Yawri Carr, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

Moderator

Gabriel Karsan, Civil Society, African Group

Online Moderator

Innocent Adriko, Civil Society, African Group

Rapporteur

Mariam Jobe, Civil Society, African Group

Format

Birds of a Feather - 60 Min

Policy Question(s)

In the fourth industrial revolution and fourth wave of digital driven democracies what are challenges and opportunities for youth involvement in shaping digital institutions?

How can emerging technologies foster youth engagement, creativity, and leadership in different sectors and contexts?

In policy frameworks, collective strategies what can be the best practices and recommendations for ensuring that digital institutions are youth-friendly, accessible, diverse, and respectful of human rights and interoperable to digital society ?

What will participants gain from attending this session? Our workshops is an opportunity for young society to shape digital institutions with resilient parameters modeled after social norms and use case experience of a generation born with the internet.
Stakeholders engaging in our session session willt take away new knowledge and understanding of the internet and its impact on society. gaining insight into emerging technologies and their potential to reshape society, the importance of digital literacy for economic empowerment and democratic participation, and the role of youth in shaping digital institutions.Learning about how social media has become a movement and how the internet is increasingly seen as a prerequisite and human right. conclusively our , participants could leave the session with a better understanding of the ways in which technology is changing our world and the importance of being actively involved in shaping its future.

Description:

With the world population reaching 8 billion, the internet has become a crucial tool in bridging divides and nurturing networks beyond physical boundaries. The internet is now defined by the agency of its majority users - the youth. Emerging technologies such as AI and neural networks, 5G and cloud infrastructure are reshaping society and changing the nature of labor. Governments are using digitization to empower democratic participation and economic empowerment. With over 5 billion connected nodes, the internet has become a reflection of society empowering sustainability through connectivity. Digital institutions have become the norm and their shaping requires the participation of youth in decision-making spaces. As technologies mature with GenZ, social media has become a movement and the internet a human right. This presents an opportunity for young society to shape digital institutions with resilient parameters modeled after social norms and use case experience of a generation born with the internet.

Received message. With the world population reaching 8 billion, the internet has become a crucial tool in bridging divides and nurturing networks beyond physical boundaries. The internet is now defined by the agency of its majority users - the youth. Emerging technologies such as AI and neural networks, 5G and cloud infrastructure are reshaping society and changing the nature of labor. Governments are using digitization to empower democratic participation and economic empowerment. With over 5 billion connected nodes, the internet has become a reflection of society empowering sustainability through connectivity. Digital institutions have become the norm and their shaping requires the participation of youth in decision-making spaces. As technologies mature with GenZ, social media has become a movement and the internet a human right.

Expected Outcomes

We are building up the session feom its predecessor at the Virtual ITU session and drawing the lessons and insights of the learnings on the workshop to build a framework on general understanding through engagement:
With an aim to raise awareness among stakeholdersabout the role and potential of youth in shaping digital institutions
Advocating civic Tech and showcasing Sema Democracy Platfrom and other oyouth-led or youth-focused initiatives that use emerging technologies to address various challenges or opportunities
Mapping and identifying key challenges and gaps that hinder youth participation or empowerment in digital institutions shared on our report
Build policy recommendations and action points for enhancing youth involvement and leadership in digital institutions and feeding to the project Ongea Na Demokrasia

Hybrid Format: Ourworkshop will adopt a hybrid format that allows for both onsite and online participation. Using youth friendly interactive tools such as polls, quizzes, breakout rooms, and mentimeter to engage participants and collect feedback realtime. We will encourage participants to share their views and experiences through social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram using a dedicated hashtag #YoungDigitalSociety .
We will strive to achieve diversity along different vectors as guided by the multistakeholder model and incentivize new and fresh voices as seen from our speakers. residing from different regions who work with youth on issues related to emerging technologies and are passionate about internet governance.