The following are the outputs of the captioning taken during an IGF intervention. Although it is largely accurate, in some cases it may be incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.
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>> JORGE CANCIO: Hello. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening for everyone online as well. It's nice seeing so many people in this session. We are starting very shortly. We have still one speaker who is on his way. But I think, Anriette, we can start slowly.
So, hello, everybody. My name is Jorge Cancio. I work for the Swiss government. And I have the pleasure of being co-moderator of this session with Anriette Esterhuysen. So, welcome to this session about the Global Digital Compact, a session organized by the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the IGF.
And the title of this session is "The GDC and Beyond: A Multistakeholder Perspective." And for this, we have, indeed, a multistakeholder panel with us today. We have Paul Wilson from APNIC, from the technical community, who is coming. I see him there. Hello, Paul. I'm sorry, this is perhaps Swiss punctuality or Japanese, of course. We try to be on time here.
And we have Valeria Bettancourt from the Association for Progressive Communications, civil society. She comes from GRULAC.
Raul Echeberria from the private sector, also GRULAC.
Constance de Leusse, she will be joining us virtually on video. She is from the Project Liberty Institute Academia, based in WEOG country.
Then we have the pleasure of having with us Ambassador Bitange Ndemo, Ambassador to Belgium from the Kenyan government, who was very much involved in the excellent IGF of 2011 in Nairobi.
And, of course, we have the pleasure of having with us Amandeep Singh Gill, the Under-Secretary-General and Envoy for technology of the UN Secretary General from India.
For this, I think that the session, we will try to have it as interactive as possible. We have broadly structured it in three segments. A segment on the process, a process towards the Global Digital Compact. We are in the midst of this process, but still a way to come to the outcomes.
A second segment about the content of the Global Digital Compact, what will be there in this very important document.
And finally, what will come after, once the GDC is set up, what will be the follow-up and the review.
And in each segment, we will have statements, short statements, two minutes each from our panelists. And then we will go to the audience, and this will be repeated in each of these three segments. And we will finalize with one-minute takeaways from our panelists.
So, Anriette.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks very much, Jorge. And I don't have much more to add in terms of introduction. And I think the GDC is, the Global Digital Compact, is not new to us. And I think it's just really worth reflecting on the fact that there's been a lot of debate around it. There's been a lot of concern about what it entails for the future of the Internet Governance Forum. There's been some uncertainty about where it's heading.
But I think on the positive end, I think what we really need to acknowledge and, actually, celebrate about this process is that it has governance, this community, it's made the IGF think about its place in the world and where this place is heading. It has opened up engagement, the internet governance community has a tendency to become quite insular and the Global Compact in the summit future process, has reminded this community of other processes in the world that deal with bigger and broader issues that also intersect with the issues that we deal with.
And then I think it has also brought us to the attention in the work that has been done within the Internet Governance Forum, and other regional IGF initiatives to the attention of people that were not aware of it.
For me, it, actually, has been exactly what this community needed to give us a sense of working up, reflecting and engaging.
So, I really look forward to this panel taking us on that path, providing more clarity, but also being really forward-looking on how this process can, actually, strengthen and broadened the work that has been done in this space.
So, we will go, we will start, I am going to start on that end. We are talking about process now. We are going to have these very short interventions from our panel. We will change the direction, but, Paul, can you please open for us?
>> PAUL WILSON: Thank you. Thank you, Anriette, and apologies to the Moderator for giving you some anxiety.
Look, I do want to say that as governments move into the GDC negotiations, that it's just so important not to take the internet for granted. And I mean the stability, the availability, the efficiency, the scalability. Everything that is intrinsic to the internet layer, and I'm speaking as a member of the technical community here, so I'm talking about the internet as the layer on which everything else depends. And it is almost invisible and it is very easy to take it for granted.
But the thing is, regardless of the GDC, of course, what the process is, whether it's multistakeholder or multilateral or something in between, the internet can only continue to 35. The internet as we see it in the technical community can only continue to thrive on the continuing cooperation of all of the relevant stakeholders. And without that, there are critical qualities of the internet that are add risk of or will inevitably over time become fragmented or compromised.
And I'd like to just remember that multistakeholder internet governance was not an intention of the WSIS in 2005. It was a discovery by the working group on internet governance that the multistakeholder nature of internet governance was a key and is still a key today to the internet's success.
So, I would like to say that for the GDC to be also successful, it needs to recognize the multistakeholder cooperation that has been with us for so long, including over the last 20 years, while it has been under the microscope. And also not take that for granted, because the thing is that cooperation of any kind, and particularly not global cooperation as we see it here, it never comes for free. It requires work on the part of everyone involved. It's costly and it's challenging.
And it can also be fragile. And I think it absolutely warrants recognition in this process, it warrants encouragement and it warrants support. And I really hope that's the goal of the GDC, at least in terms of the objectives or related to the internet. Thanks.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, Paul.
Bitange.
>> BITANGE NDEMO: Thank you. I think this comes at the right time, and I think everybody by now understands that internet is very key to our lives. Going through the -- through COVID-19, we were able to teach throughout that year people we worked with, micro enterprises delivered some of the platforms to do business. So, this is a very important space. And GDC comes at the right time to, perhaps, give government directions with respect to regulation, we see people rushing to regulate new technologies at the moment. We hope that we can have such discussions through multistakeholders to provide the best of regulations, especially in AI.
We also need to talk about standards across the world. So, many things are happening, innovation, young people leveraging digitalization to innovate, we have seen productivity improvement, and we need to create a space for conversations to ensure that all this happens as we move forward.
I think I will stop there. Thank you.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, Bitange.
Raul.
>> RAUL ECHEBERRI: Thank you very much, Anriette. First of all, I think that we should recognize be very happy to see that this has been a centre point in the agenda of Secretary General of United Nations. So, it is very good to see that that finally the topics that we discuss, the issues that we discuss here and call to the top in the international agenda.
And there has been a consistent path since the creation of the high-level panel on digital cooperation so those are very good news.
With regard to the process itself of the Global Digital Compact, I feel really that we could have contributed more and better and there probably is -- and it shows the complexity and the difficulty of organizing a really global and inclusive process. The world is very big and diversity is also very big.
And I had the feeling that we could have had more consultations probably through more partners and involving more people because Amandeep cannot do everything. But we could have organized more or even consultations at the regional level involving more people.
I think there is a large part of the community, I come from private sector, so the small companies, small private sector sensors that are not aware of what's happening. And, in fact, I was in Montevideo two weeks ago in a Global Summit of parliamentarians. Some of them mentioned the Global Digital Compact and the Tech Envoy and other things but I recognize that the maturity of the people were not aware of the processes. And I don't know how to fix it at this point. But speaking about the process, I feel, I have that feeling that we could have contributed more in that.
And with regard -- my final point, with regard to private sector, is highly diverse constituency because the diversity of interest, diversity of sectors, but also diversity of sizes, of companies and regional origins. So, it is difficult to involve everybody. And we have to work more on that.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, Raul.
Valeria.
>> VALERIA BETTANCOURT: Thank you very much, Anriette. And I want to use this opportunity to bring up some of the issues that civil society organizations, including the one that I am part of have identified as critical in regards to the process. The aspirations of the Global Digital Compact as an opportunity to strengthening the multistakeholder approach have faded. This aspiration had to do with building and expanding on the principles adopted by the WSIS in terms of multistakeholder participation acknowledging that multilateral and multistakeholder at are not mutually exclusive. And that both are really necessary to respond to the different and distributed ways and spaces in which global digital governance is undertaken.
So, so far, the trend has been the lack of timely information provision for a meaningful engagement and participation of civil society actors, including clarity on what the whole process is aiming at, what the format and outcome will be, and how the input provided through the regional and global consultations, they call for contributions and the deep dives will continue to be used.
Humanity and the planet are experiencing the social and economic impacts of a global pandemic, resulting in a merging and structural inequality and injustice and overlapping crises, including the unprecedented climate emergency. The expectation was that the Global Digital Compact could establish clear linkages with other existing and ongoing processes and spaces in the midst of a rapidly changing context in which the scope of internet-related public policy issues keeps expanding and the separation of digital from nondigital is diffused.
So, not open, free and secure digital future for all can be shaped by excluding the voices and realities of the most affected by digitalization of all aspects of life, and allowing the pre predominance of interest oriented to keep the status quo.
The GDC could replicate a model of the WSIS, the WSIS review in which the primary participants were governments, of course in accordance to the intergovernmental, but allowed engagement of other stakeholders in the preparatory and negotiates process.
Inclusion should be the norm, not the contemporary.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, Valeria. Amandeep. As usual, you are the one who has to be put on the spot.
>> AMANDEEP SINGH GILL: Thank you. Thank you very much, Anriette. And I think Valeria has set it up very nicely for me. I like this reference to the nondigital challenges that we face. And the GDC is not a stand-alone product or process. It's part of the highway to the Summit of the Future, where there are these different tracks on those urgent, nondigital issues. The debt crisis, the need for reform of the global financial architecture, the need to progress on the SDGs, the need to build new frameworks for peace, the new agenda for peace track.
So, the GDC should be seen as part of that larger picture, and it indeed is coming out of the -- Our Common Agenda report where this is just one of the 12 important areas that are mentioned for the international community to rally around.
Now, the second thing I want to say is that we just come through the first phase of the process. And that was the consultations phase. And within the limitations of time and resources, I have a very small team and a very small budget. I think the team has done a phenomenal job, the co-facilitators have done a phenomenal job of getting more than 7000 entities to contribute inputs, not only those eight thematic deep dives and other consultations in New York, but also consultations in Geneva, in many other places, regional consultation in Africa, Latin America and in Asia. And that continues. Later this week, there will be a consultation in Korea, in Seoul for the Asia Pacific Region so we will keep that up, that inclusive, open process of consultations, listening in, reflecting what is happening inside the room, that will continue.
So, in many ways, as you have seen in the Secretary General's statement and in the policy brief on the Global Digital Compact, this is an opportunity to also push the multistakeholder paradigm into new areas, new venues, and enhance participation.
In a sense, when there is some method to this madness, and you look back at the high-level panel on digital cooperation, this is programmed information. One of my yoga teachers talks about programmed information. So, you need to get -- if you want to get the ecosystem to the next level, because tech is not waiting. The challenges are not waiting. They are multiplying exponentially.
So, we need to take the ecosystem to the next level of agility, dynamism, responsiveness. So, the Secretary General's vision on digital cooperation is inspired by that. So, this is the next level of programmed information. So, obviously, when you are pushed to grow, there is -- you know, from the body and the mind, there is some lethargy, some resistance, and I think this is where some of the sometimes, oh, what is happening, where are we going, et cetera, those kind of questions come.
But stay tuned and participate as you have been doing in a fantastic manner. Addis Ababa helped inform the consultation process and starting with this IGF, we are going to be informing the negotiation phase. I'm glad to see the Ambassador of Rwanda join us for this team. So the co-facilitators will appreciate your active engagement going forward.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks very much, Amandeep. And thanks, everyone, for mostly keeping to the time limit.
Our final speaker, Constance de Leusse, is not with us. So, I think, Jorge, we can go ahead and get input from the audience.
>> JORGE CANCIO: That's great. Yes. As we said at the beginning, we are surprising to have this session as interactive as possible and not waiting for the audience at the end of the session. So, we have the privilege of counting now with the intervention from Ms. Agnes Vatucitay. I'm sorry for the pronunciation. Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications from Lithuania. The floor is yours.
>> AUDIENCE: Good morning, everyone. It was very interesting to listen to all the speeches. I think we all have the same goal for the future of internet. And I would like to intervene on behalf of the EuroDIG stakeholders community, which has been engaged throughout the United Nations Secretary General's process on digital cooperation.
It is important now for the final stages of the negotiations on the Global Digital Compact in the United Nations to continue to be open to multistakeholder contributions. I think all the panelists agreed on this approach.
Following the Summit of the Future next year, the IGF should have a central role in the implementation of the Compact's principles and commitments to action for achieving an open, free, inclusive, secure and sustainable digital future for all.
I had a fruitful discussion with the EuroDIG's community here in Japan, in IGF, so I can confirm they stand ready to provide a European channel for further multistakeholder inputs. So, I am very proud to announce and invite all of you to participate in EuroDIG, which will take place next June in Lithuania. And I hope that the next year and as colleagues mentioned, this is only the first step. So, I think from the audience and all the panelists, the thrive is to know more about the whole process and steps ahead. And I hope that the discussions and negotiations for the next year will be very fruitful, and we will come up with a future of internet we want, we all want. So, thank you very much.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thanks so much for that input, for those thoughts, and for being on time.
We have four mics here. And in the good IGF tradition, you can line up and speak. We have time for three or four, perhaps, speakers. You have two minutes. Please share your thoughts.
I see a gentleman --
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: And introduce yourself.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Yes, please.
>> AUDIENCE: This is (?). I come from Bangladesh Internet Governance. We have been involved with Global Digital Compact process from the beginning, and we have already participated in the deep dive after the leadership of UN tech. Thank you very much for involve us.
But last preparatory meeting of the Summit of the Future, there is no civil society space. So, I would appreciate if you could allow us, if you could provide some spaces for the civil society voices from the country level. Thank you very much.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much. This is direct input.
And I see a gentleman there, Jordan Cota. The floor is yours.
>> JORDAN CARTER: Thank you, Jorge. Good morning. Jordan Carter from the administration, speaking personally.
I agree with comments about the need to be innovative in these processes. And I think that the multistakeholder internet governance community has a lot of benefit it can add, but it shouldn't just be seen as offering input on a consultation basis. I think the UN System needs to consider innovations that it can deliver to the negotiation process as well, and not just, again, consultation, but active engagement and involvement.
I know, given the nature of the UN and the multilateral system that that is a big thing to ask. But I think if we have a genuine belief that internet and digital governance happens best by genuinely involving the stakeholders not only to hear their points of view, but to help genuinely shape the decisions by being in the room, that is an innovation that could be done. And it isn't necessarily an innovation because it's been done before in the WSIS context and in other contexts.
So, my urging to everyone involved, to all of the representatives, particularly of Member State governments who are here, because you are the key players in the UN System, is to take some innovations into this process itself, to shift the dial from consulting us to involving us. Thank you.
(Applause)
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much, Jordan. And as a government representative, I take note of that, of course.
Don't be shy. Come forward to the mic. But, of course, is there any intervention, perhaps, online?
Anriette is multitasking so well.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Total support from the comments from Jordan Carter.
I think I will just add, and maybe a question for the panelists when they respond to this, is that are we, perhaps, also underestimating the complexity of two very different forms of governance, both of which are imperfect in their own ways. And both which require fair amount of evolution and improvement, multilateral and multistakeholder, that we need to get them to engage and be more complementary and maybe we are still in the phase where we head bashing and we still need to move towards the innovation that Jordan was talking about.
Is there an online comment?
Nnanna Norkanma has her hand. Can she be unmuted, please? She wants to speak. Nana, please go ahead.
She is still muted. Nana, you could type your question, if you wanted to. And then we could -- I don't have host -- great. We can hear you. Please go ahead.
>> Thank you, Anriette. And hello, everyone. Just a quick one. As we go into the negotiations phase, we do understand that this is mainly governmental, and like someone has said, we would love for it to be more than that. However, my submission would be that regular updates on these negotiations need to be made public so that we can follow. And the reason I'm saying this is that I'm participating in Kyoto online. And while we might be happy with negotiations that will happen in New York, it is very important that GDC recognizes that the greater part of the GDC community are neither in New York or not online and may need to follow things in other ways.
So, my submission will be that while negotiations are going on, the summaries will be regularly updated on the site of the UN Tech Envoy. Thank you very much.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much, nana, and I think we have to keep moving, because we have covered the timing for the first segment. But thank you so much for those interventions. I think --
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Jorge, I want to read one short question from Fiona Alexander. What changes can we see in the process going forward?
>> JORGE CANCIO: Okay. Good question. Perhaps it's something that panelists may weave in, in their next statements. Raul, do you have a short intervention to that?
>> RAUL ECHEBERRI: Yes. I think that's what -- short answer is very important about the kind of participation and involvement. And this is -- there were thousands of contributions. In fact, I participated in some contributions. There were several governments working hard in organizing the consultations.
But clearly, it's clear that we feel in this community more comfortable with this kind of sessions and formats of consultations than just submitting comments.
And I think that's what Fiona says, and also nana, is crucial that toward the Summit of the Future, we have opportunities to participate for nongovernmental stakeholders in the process. So, we did even better than we did in 2005 for WSIS. We would expect that we could improve the process and innovate in that sense.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much, Raul. Maybe short reaction?
>> AMANDEEP SINGH GILL: Yes. Several good comments. And I love the point about building on the innovations that are already there on multistakeholder participation, kind of how do we square the circle between multilateral processes and multistakeholder, not just participation, but deeper engagement.
We don't have the perfect answer anywhere. So, I'm a student of international learning in a historical sense. We really don't have a perfect answer. But we have innovations out there. The cybercrime treaty negotiations, the negotiations involving the chemical industry recently that UNEP facilitated, and the negotiations, even on difficult sensitive issues like lethal autonomous weapons systems, with some inventiveness you found a way to bring in experts into the discussions.
So, the co-facilitators are here and they are listening to all these suggestions. And I am sure working with Member States, they would find a way to make sure that this is as opened, as inclusive, as engaging as possible. Made a point about briefings. So intersessional engagement with different stakeholder has been a part of the approach that's been adopted during the cybercrime treaty negotiations.
So, I would like to add, in addition to the suggestion that we have heard, I would like to urge you also to work with the Member States that you live in, that you work with, so that you can get into the delegations, get to engage the delegations more, particularly the delegations in New York and in Geneva.
So, we have to work at this problem from several angles. There's no magic fix to this.
>> JORGE CANCIO: This is a great segue to the next part of our conversation, and as you said before and as we commented, we are at the midst of this process, more or less. We have seen policy brief and recently we are seeing the issues paper, very summarized version of what the deep dives and the many consultations have brought on the table from the perspective of the co-facilitators.
So, perhaps, and, of course, this is a provisional state of the situation, what would be your point of view, of you, panelists, of what is worthwhile having in the GDC, what is still lacking, what could be innovations to bring freely added value and new substance into this Global Framework on digital cooperation.
And maybe, if I may, I would start with you, Amandeep. Thank you. Kindly brief us.
>> AMANDEEP SINGH GILL: Of course. The issues in the digital universe are many, many, and you have to organize them, and I think that those eight issues are a nice way of organizing the substance. And there has been in the imports and the commentaries, and perhaps we need greater information on the digital economy, the kind of digital for development issues that are emerging rapidly.
AI already finds a good place in the current structuring of issues. Again, there is an upsurge of interest, and I'm sure there is some time before the negotiation phase starts, plenty of time for the co-facilitators and the teams to think about how to organize for the next phase.
I don't think there is anything missing. It's just a question of emphasis. If you look at the Secretary General's policy brief, again, this was a challenge for us across the UN System, all the UN entities working to help the Secretary General prepare that policy brief. How do we bring it down to a solid vision? How do we structure that vision. So there's threefold framing, bridging the digital divide, accelerating progress on the SDGs. Second, addressing the harms online, protecting and promoting human rights. Digital trust and security type of issues.
And third, the governance side of it, the agile governance, the responsive governance side of it. With particular reference to AI. So, that was one way to bring it all together to a strategic level. And then those different action areas, they followed the co-facilitators' leads, lead in terms of the structuring of the issues, principles, objectives, and example actions under those objectives. It will not be enough to have only principles. We have a lot of principles in the digital domain. We need to move to action frameworks, to commitments and a way to follow up on those commitments. That is the potential for value addition from the Global Digital Compact.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much, Amandeep.
So, we have more flesh on the bones and more flesh to react on, Valeria.
>> VALERIA BETTANCOURT: Thank you, Jorge. Well, global digital cooperation is at a crossroads. The gains of connectivity are uneven and digital exclusion including the gender digital gap are preventing many to embrace the benefits of the digital revolution. Social and economic injustice and inequality presents an urgent challenge to development and democracy.
So, if the Agenda 2030 is to be realized and if the Global Digital Compact is meant to contribute to it, bold and committed actions are needed to, first, take the benefits of digitalization to all countries and people.
Second, governor digital resources in a transparent, inclusive and accountable manner. Protecting the public core of the internet.
And third, may digital policies and law fit for catalyzing innovation that counts. We need, definitely, a paradigm shift, one that address digital inequality paradox. As more people are connected, digital equality is amplified, as all technologies converge into the larger phenomenon of digitalization, the threat that the digital revolution bypasses developing countries becomes more real.
So, this is not just about access to the internet. It is about the complex issues of quality of such access, affordability, and equal participation of countries in the global regime that set the rules of the game. And for people everywhere to have the skills to reap the opportunities of this paradigm.
So, it is paramount to understand that we have to bridge the gap between those who have technology financial resources, to use the internet, and all the digital technologies to transact, so prosper, to contribute to wealth of nations and others who don't.
So, the powerful countries use Free Trade Agreements to stifle digit rights of people and countries in the Global South in particular. So trade rules are used to arm governments to hyper liberalize data flows, take away local autonomy of public authorities to govern transnational corporations and their algorithms. Prevent a scrutiny of source code and legitimize a permanent dependence of the developing countries on the monopolitical corporations controlling data and AI power.
This kind of structural independence is equivalent to a near colonial order.
The unfinished business of the WSIS cannot be forgotten and the challenges that have emerged in the last two decades have to be addressed by the Global Digital Compact. If it is really necessary to enable political regulatory, technical, technological and financial conditions to increase the individual and collective agency and autonomy and choice of people to connect to digital technology and spaces, as well as how they use, shape, inform and create them once they are connected.
A realistic approach to do so is one ways on human rights. Intersectionality and feminist frameworks to address the global inequality and injustice. The conclusive test for well-guided digital transition is in the public collective and social value it can create and the human freedoms that can expand.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you, Valeria. I am sorry, but we have to keep on time. Thank you very much for the thoughts.
And Raul, what's your take?
>> RAUL ECHEBERRI: Thank you, Jorge. I think that the issues paper that was shared recently is a good collection of the points that have to be in the Global Digital Compact. So, it is very interesting to see that the similarities between the list of issues and the topics that are central for the agenda of IGF. So, it means between brackets, it means that IGF is a very valuable venue to discuss those issues.
What I would expect from the GDC, that I expect emphasize, a positive emphasizing in vision with technology. Technology evolution will not stop. And we need the human kind to embrace the technology evolution in a positive manner.
I will expect to have a message of hope and accord to speed up innovation in every country or around the world. And to work in a -- hard to really achieve that technologies, to have a more equitable development across the globe and at the benefits of the technology evolution is reached to everybody in the world.
So, it could not be just a regulatory approach or an over regulatory approach to the technologies. This is what I will expect.
And I think that the message from the Prime Minister of Japan yesterday was very inspiring in that sense. He said something, I don't want to quote the Prime Minister, but he said something like, we cannot ignore the problems that we have. But we can optimize the benefits of technology, reducing the risk, something like that.
So, I think that this is very aspiring and this is the direction that the GDC should have, trying to bring really a whole for human kind that's in a positive. We cannot just try to stop the technology evolution, but we have to work to make the technology evolution is good for everybody in the world. Thank you.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much, Raul. Very important thoughts. It's really the task of -- one of the tasks of our time to really find that balance.
Now, Bitange, what's your view on this?
>> BITANGE NDEMO: Yeah. I would explain this by giving just two examples. In 207. One of the operators was looking for approval to allow digital money, and that was what we call impersonal, and we thought about it through too many spaces, government was fearing. But eventually took the risk and went through a lot of exclusivity when people talking retrospect. If we can be able to understand here that innovation precedes regulation, because what I am seeing now with the prospect of AI is that people want to regulate before we are out there to do innovations.
Having been a teacher for many years and having seen some of the applications in AI, in education, some of us grew through the theories of Plato, the philosophy of Plato where children had to memorize everything. And you come to get shocked what you memorized that is the theory that you needed to understand a couple of years ago.
There are so many problems in education. One that I can -- everybody can relate to that if you mark 30 years and you give it to 10 other people, they would all make mistakes. But with the new technologies, such problems would go.
If we can make sure that either we agree universally that we allow the innovations to take place, then we can be able to see, in this period of augmentation, especially in education, we could do much more to the world than just coming out and saying the propaganda about AI, it is bad, it's going to take human beings and stuff. That's what I can say about this.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much, Bitange. Of course, education is one of the basic pillars also of this digital world.
Paul, what's your take?
>> PAUL WILSON: Thank you. I think the GDC needs to truly acknowledge where we are and what we have already and build from here.
I mean, one of the objectives of the GDC is an open -- is an inclusive, open, secured and shared internet but we still have 33% of people still to connect. And I would say out of the 70 -- the 66 connected, a lot who still need what we call meaningful internet connectivity. And it means we are still in growth. We are still in growth of connectivity and accessibility and content and capability of the internet.
So, the growth pains of the last 20 years that we have all felt, that we have all responded to, that this whole process is aiming to address, these growth pains are going to continue with building capacity and infrastructure and integrity and security. They are going to continue and require our cooperation. And people have asked me, why are we still talking about internet governance? And the answer is, because the internet is changing and growing and new challenges are coming along constantly.
And we have got incredible innovations so far, famously, across the internet, but also in this room and in this process, and so I really think that while we are in growth, we need to continue to use and build on those innovations, not to rearrange the, sort of, deck chairs wantonly or to simply overlook what we have got. I think we need to continue the work of bringing benefits of the internet to more people and urgently.
So, out of respect for all of the work that's been done and recognition for all of the work that's been done, but also for the sake of sheer efficiency and the urgency of, let's say, of overcoming the digital issues and paying attention to the nondigital issues that Valeria has mentioned, let's recognize this and build on it. Thanks.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much. I see that Bitange has an urgent reaction to that.
>> BITANGE NDEMO: I think he raises a good point. Even if we had 100% coverage of internet globally, still a good percentage of people would not be able to be on the internet, simply because of language. And AI has come, all these LLMs, we need to enable these people through their local languages to be able to do something online. That is what I can call inclusivity.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much, Bitange.
Anriette.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: We have -- my apologies if I look like I have been on my screen. I have been having connectivity issues, believe it or not.
Apologies to online participates if I have missed your questions. But we have a hand from Omar Faruque. Omar, do you want to speak? I am trying to unmute you here. I have lost my connection again.
So, can -- can you unmute him, please, Amrita. And Omar, briefly introduce yourself and keep your intervention short.
Is there another question? Amrita, just switch on your mic and please read the questions. And to our tech team over there, I'm afraid, I can't unmute people because my connection keeps dropping.
Do you not -- thank you, thank you, Amrita. Sorry about that.
>> This is a question from Jody Pandy. She asks, what is the mechanism to include stakeholders in the scenario of Member States not being inclusive or not wanting to work with critical voices?
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks for that. And I see Omar still has his hand up and I cannot unmute him. Thanks a lot, Amrita.
Shall we take another question in the meantime? Over there, Nigel, introduce yourself and then we will move over here.
And I had a bet with Jorge that there will be more people coming to the mics when I am moderating the open segment. So, please help me win that bet.
>> AUDIENCE: Thank you. I'm Nigel Casimeer from the Caribbean telecommunications union, which is an Intergovernmental Organization of 20 Member States and territories in the Caribbean. And we are following the processes of the GDC development on behalf of the Caribbean -- our Member States, essentially.
However, we, being generally small island, developing states, that's the kind of perspective that we are bringing into the discussion. And we have heard many of the panelists talk about people who maybe not even aware of the process of GDC. The need for inclusion. We still have a third of persons not yet connected. And a lot of those persons and people who are not aware are in Small Island Developing States and others.
So, I am wondering if there is a special -- any special effort being made to involve them. I mean, certainly it's our challenge and we are taking up the challenge, even here at this IGF, we have a forum on it, on Thursday. But I am wondering to what extent in the development of the GDC, what efforts are being made to reach these specific ones, these specific types of countries to get their inputs and to make sure that they are appropriately taken account of. Thank you.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, Nigel.
Stella, we will go to you, our youth representative. Just introduce yourself.
>> AUDIENCE: Thank you. My name is Stella and I was in charge of the GDC submission with netmission.Asia.Asia. I have a question for the panelists. Youth often tout as the future but I feel like we need to be present and we have been, we have seen a lot of youth initiatives submitting to the GDC through the online -- the open consultation. So, your thoughts on how the youth can continue to be involved, especially in the review process, after we have already submitted our initial submissions. Thank you.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks a lot.
Eric, we will go over to you first.
>> AUDIENCE: Hello. Mime Eric from (?). My question is regarding the process. I was remembering the process for WSIS, that Indigenous Peoples were actively participators in the process, most of the meetings for indigenous communities were, especially by the government of Canada remember well.
In this process of how Indigenous Peoples are involved and incorporated, especially considering that most of the challenges that you have mentioned are affecting particularly for them.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks. Let's go to our online speaker, Omar now. Amrita, is he ready? And then we will go to Emma over here.
>> Hello.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Yes, we can hear you, finally.
>> Hello, my name is Omar Faruque and I'm the founder and presenter of Notre Dame. So I was the youngest and only child panelist of every Global Digital Compact sessions representing children globally and provided statements on every thematic discussion. So, my question is that my first question is that, I am concerned that the GDC doesn't adequately address the following details in the policy brief and the issues prepared by the co-facilitators of the GDC.
So, the first question is that GDC should introduce substantive developments on how to bridge the digital divide and ensure that all children and young people have access to quality digital technologies and connectivity. Because it's really important that in the future, the future and youth are the future. So, we must ensure their connectivity and access digital technologies.
And then additionally, another topic is that introduced substantive developments on how to hold the private sectors accountable for its role in the digital world and ensure that it protects the rights and interests of children and young people. So, thank you to the young tech involved to give me the opportunity to represent children globally.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, Omar.
We are going to close the queue now. So no one else come forward to the mics. Emma, over here.
>> EMMA GIBSON: Hello. I'm Emma Gibson from the Alliance for Universal Digital Rights, or AUDR for short, and alongside other organizations, we have been consulting women and people of diverse genders and sexualities all year about what they think should be in a Global Digital Compact so it works for them.
And essentially what they have been saying to us is that the principles of the GDC that insure an open, free and secure digital future need to be infused with a feminist and intersectional approach if we are going to ensure gender just world.
So, we have come up with a set of 10 principles, which we launched on Saturday at a conference. You can stop and ask me for a copy. And a feminist GDC would work for everybody. And this includes making sure that the GDC is rooted in existing human rights law, that it's protecting people from multiple people facing multiple forms of discrimination. That it ensures freedom from gender-based violence online, which is something we were disappointed wasn't in the writeup of the deep dives, alongside freedom of expression, which we also were concerned was missing from that writeup as well.
Another principle is, obviously, ensuring internet access for all, dealing with harmful surveillance. We want to expand women's participation in leadership in the tech centre and in policymaking. We need to reduce the environmental impact of new technology, the GDC needs to ensure data privacy and adopt equity by design principles for algorithms and digital tech development, and, finally, the GDC needs to set safeguards to prevent discriminatory biases. When we launched this set of principles on Saturday to a variety of governments from around the world and one government suggested that gender equality and feminism should be an additional pillar of the Global Digital Compact, so --
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Time is up, Emma.
>> AUDIENCE: I would really like to ask the panel for their thoughts on that. Thank you.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Apologies. I do have to interrupt people.
We will have this person over here, who is still scribbling her notes. Is it Liz?
>> AUDIENCE: Yes. I was adding some points --
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Introduce yourself.
>> AUDIENCE: Okay. My name is Liz Rambo from Research ICT Africa and we have made two submissions to the GDC process. These two submissions when we developed them, we have consulted African stakeholders, some who are in this room and some who are not able to join us.
The things that were partnering those two consultations were to do with multistakeholderism, because already been talked about quite enough, and intersectionality. The digital inequality paradox that Valeria has talked about. And I would just like to add that with the people who are mostly disadvantaged at multiple sectors of inequalities, those are the people that we, actually, need to take into account with this new GDC process.
And what you are saying is that not just even issues of access. But even quality of access, where people are accessing technologies differently in terms of gender, where they are placed, economic issues, and all that.
So, with that, we also put a solution, things to do with the data, data access or data -- measuring data on digital inequality paradox itself to, actually, address this problem.
And with that, you also talk about the power, dependency of data when it comes to the position of Africa. How are we accessing our own data, that's to do with also government, also held data working with government and also the position of Africa being that we are users of technology and we also don't get access to this data. So, how do we get to measure that digital access to, actually, take care of this data inequality paradox. Thank you.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Time. Thanks, Liz.
Alisa.
>> My name is Alisa Heaver, and I'm from the Dutch government, and I'm a MAG member.
The policy brief touches upon many important topics, though we are here today in Kyoto, and in exactly this building, the Kyoto protocol was negotiated. It was the first time that we internationally agreed upon acting for sustainable -- for a sustainable environment.
The energy consumption keeps on rising for the use of the internet. To connect all the people that still need to be connected, but also to have a faster internet and less latency. The policy brief only mentions in one bullet to develop environmental sustainability by design and globally harmonize digital sustainability standards to safeguards to protect the planet. It doesn't mention the energy consumption of the internet, at least I couldn't find it.
However, in my opinion, we need to put more attention to this topic. For us to have a sustainable planet, we also need to decrease the amount of energy that we use on the internet. Thank you.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, Alisa.
And our final contribution. One more there. Sorry.
>> AUDIENCE: I'm (?), I'm a coordinator of the Brazilian homeless workers movement technology sector. It's the largest housing social movement worldwide, 30,000 people. We have been doing practice most of the GDC is claiming for. We have been teaching public -- in public schools digital literacy, digital technology education. We have been installing public wi-fi hot spots in the poorest regions in secondary kitchens. We have been developing ourselves platforms with democratic and comparative based platform governance to generate income for the last month. So, that's precisely what it's including everyone on digital technologies as Raul mentioned.
So, my question, it's something that it's really somehow neglected in IGF's agenda, which is labour topic. But it's in the policy brief of the GDC. It's clear there. How can we liberize, right? I will I would like to hear how the process and the Summit of the Future can we really ensure fostering SDG number 8, it's not only economic growth, it's also decent work. How can we ensure the participation of unions and other labour organizations in the development of it? Thank you very much.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks.
And the last contribution from over there.
Sorry, Jeanette. The mic has been closed. But we will try to open once more.
>> AUDIENCE: Hi, everyone. I'm Nurmin, the Secretary General of creators union of Arab, consult states. Thank you very much from all members of honorable states. It's just a comment, not a point of view, not a question.
Allow me to add a point of view. I believe that one of the goals of the Global Digital Compact is to provide a safe digital environment for everyone. But I believe that it must include children from an early age in particular to protect them from electronic blackmail and violation of privacy.
Therefore, we as a civil society organization, contributed to this matter by adopting the initiative of one of our academic members who prepared a curriculum of digital safety in cybersecurity to provide a safe digital environment. So to know about this curriculum of digital safety and cybersecurity, we have a presentation on 12th of --
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Do you have a question for the panel?
>> AUDIENCE: No, it's just point of view to make -- to provide our curriculum of cybersecurity and digital safety for children to be as a part of the goals of digital Global Compact.
So, I invite you to take as idea about this curriculum to visionize and all institution, a large number of an institution that can take this curriculum.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Okay. Thanks. Thanks. And people can grab you and I want to urge people when they take the microphone, to ask a question of the panel.
So, apologies that we couldn't take more. But we will try and open once more.
I think we don't have enough time for you to respond and then to go into your -- the final segment of our session today, which is looking at the going forward. What comes after the GDC process?
I'm going to ask you to respond to the questions we have had on content, and I am going to add just one question to that, which is, you know, we have looked a lot at the content of the GDC. Have we looked enough at the proposed content of the Summit of the Future, and is there, perhaps, a little gap here in how we as a community working with digital looks at our input at not just being focused on the GDC, but also other aspects of the Summit of the Future, such as the Global Agenda for Peace.
The panel, let's start again, shall we start with Amandeep, and I think it's your turn to start now. Looking forward post GDC process, review mechanisms, what do you think can we do, how can we be innovative? But also, if you can make some responses to the questions from the floor.
>> AMANDEEP SINGH GILL: Thank you. There were many, many questions. So, we will take a long time to answer all of them.
Let me just try and group them into three categories. One is some of the specific interest groups, children, whether it is the Small Island Developing States or -- and that point is really taken. In fact, many of the engagements have been around those kind of themes. Youth, for instance, working with Secretary General's Youth Envoy, we have put together some consultations, and Omar who spoke earlier, he's iconic in terms of youth participation in the GDC deep dives.
The issues of sustainability and gender, if you look carefully at the issues paper, at the end of those thematic issues, the co-facilitators have very carefully articulated why those are cross-cutting strategic issues.
So, Emma, you know, I was happy to join you on Saturday, and you heard me speak about how the mainstreaming of gender on digital issues is an important goal for the Secretary General. And it's -- you should not only look at the GDC process, but what's happening around it. This year's Commission on the Status of Women, CSW67 was an exciting opportunity because the team was around digital and technology. We were able to make a lot of progress. And that is going to have its own impact on the GDC process.
Now, your point coming to this aspect of moving forward, and I think that also featured in some of the questions, the process related questions. And I love the title of this panel, GDC and beyond, because we need to think about how do we take the GDC forward. As I mentioned earlier, if the ecosystem is going to hopefully, we have to have an ambitious outcome. So, if it goes to the next level, then how do we make sure that it stays at that level and that we are organized in a multistakeholder fashion to follow up.
So, the Secretary General has presented some thoughts on that in his policy brief. They are meant to stimulate debate and discussion when the process resumes. I think the essential point, the fundamental point which he made in his remarks yesterday is that we need to pull things together in a better way. We need to make sure that we don't again retreat into silos. And we need to make sure that there is accountability. That term came up in one of the questions. Accountability of the governments or the private sector in terms of the kind of digital future that we want.
So, that debate is going to be interesting and exciting. It's also going to be a little challenge, it's part of that programme inflammation paradigm, and I think, Paul, you also started to, kind of, talk a little bit to that.
Because we can't really rest on our laurels. The internet is growing, the user base is growing. It's shifting. The data flows. If you look at what's the quantum of data flows around the world, you have new players. The majority of data flows are happening in non-west European, non-north American contexts, starting very recently. So, how does the system adjust to these challenges?
The advent of AI and in the future, perhaps, Ambient computing. These are interesting questions and we need to make sure that we have agile frameworks, we have updated frameworks. And in that sense, again, WSIS+20 would be another opportunity to make sure that the ecosystem keeps up with the challenges, and we are able to handle this enhanced participation from across the globe in our existing forums and make sure that it's meaningful participation, governments and the private sector give it importance, land up, engage with other stakeholders, communities, society and academia and researchers and help us to address the challenges in real time.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks. And I know Amandeep went over time. But there were lots of questions to respond to. But I do want to ask people to keep to time.
Valeria, do you have --
>> VALERIA BETTANCOURT: Is it on? In terms of the follow-up, mechanisms, I think human rights chartered and the internal government of economic and sociocultural rights should be the basis for accessing a stakeholder's commitment with an open, free and secure digital future. Any review mechanism should be related to existing processes such as the universal periodic review, the sustainable developing goals, the important system around those, the review and the implementation of the WSIS action lines, among others. It should also take into account existing instruments and frameworks such as the UNESCO internet university indicators that also applies to other tracts because all of them have digital-related components. In order to be implemented, the Global Digital Compact has to put in place financial mechanisms and reinforce the commitment for the development of digital infrastructure skills but also regulatory capacities for all countries to navigate the terrain.
We need new commitments for the international financial institutions in the form of reparation for all the data that has been appropriated from people and the interactions, from nature and also from common heritage, including indigenous knowledge as someone from the audience referred earlier.
In addition, taxing big tech for global and national financing is a must. If we want countries to be able to bring into practice the Global Digital Compact.
And last but not least the IGF should continue and has to be strengthened and its mandate should be extended to extent the participationization of global digital cooperation but also bridge the gap between the spaces and the decision making processes and serve as a central space for multistakeholder engagement.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, Valeria.
Raul.
>> RAUL ECHEBERRI: Thank you. First of all, I think the Global Digital Compact and the Summit of the Future, we have to be very careful, governments have to be very careful in creating new bureaucracies, small countries as Nigel pointed out, the complexity for participating in the global landscape for small -- the Caribbean countries, among others. But also for other stakeholders that don't have the power and the resources to participate in multiple processes.
In that sense, I already say that IGF is -- the agenda of IGF is very in line with the issues that would be part of the GDC. So, we have to work in strengthening the IGF. Of course, the IGF has to continue evolving into accompany the evolution of the challenges, but this is a good venue. It's a venue that has been very useful for everybody.
And UN has an important role in promoting the participation of more governments in the multistakeholder mechanisms. And undoubtedly UN is the organization that is best positioned for doing that.
And I think that we have to take governments out of the comfort zone. At the end of the day, would be conditioned by intergovernmental decisions, the decisions would be by the governments. So, that we have to make them to -- have to help them to receive the temptation to increase governmental oversight in digital governance. But we don't need more government contributors. We need more multistakeholders. The issues are so complex that the only way to deal with the challenges that we have is with full participation of all stakeholders. And this is why we have to be there. This is why we have to participate in this process and we need more participation of all the stakeholders to be disruptive and to, as I say before, to take governments out of the comfort zone.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, Raul.
Bitange.
>> BITANGE NDEMO: I think there is convergence in thought. We had a session on declaration of future of internet, which almost similar issues, enabling the freedom and taking care of every individual with respect to human rights. And I think they are here. If we are able to look at such convergencies and little more widely, we can be able to encompass or respond to all the questions that have been asked. Thank you.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks very much, Bitange.
Paul.
>> PAUL WILSON: Thanks, Anriette. I heard quite a lot of questions, and quite a lot of questions about inclusivity. Most of the questions were about inclusion, I think, about marginalized individuals and communities and small islands and youth and gender and homeless and children and others. And I also heard about inclusion in the internet, in internet governance and in the GDC process. So, that's a lot of inclusion that's being asked about there.
And I think the -- the fact that the questions that were asked can be asked here in this room and can be asked by the people who are directly concerned with those issues is a hint at the power of this model, of the IGF model.
So, this is the IGF. It's not the GDC or the summit for the future. But I do think the answers to those questions of inclusion across the board are potentially in this room, because what's happening here and what's happened here for 18 years, if not perfect and no one has said it is, can still absolutely provide the venue and the framework for what GDC apparently needs for follow-up of actions and objectives and reviews and so on. Whether that's by expanding the remit of the IGF or by replicating somehow, certainly by evolving it, but I really think the answers are here and do not need to be replicated.
We have got this multistakeholder community here that's ready, that wants to talk about strengthening and has done for quite a period of time.
EuroDIG, we heard has called for it. Anriette said it. We are ready for this. We are looking for an opportunity for the IGF to provide its worth, to do its work better and further and for us to exploit the potential that's here in this room, the potential of the process and the people and the community, the communities that are involved.
So, I think that's where I would like to see the future, as I say, not as a reinvention, not as a rearrangement of objectives, but really as a way to simply move forward and make things continually better. Thanks.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much, Paul.
I think we have time for three short interventions from the audience, be it online or be it here.
I see Jeanette coming forward again. Now we have time. So --
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Can we check with Amrita? Because my connection has dropped. Amrita, if there is an online -- maybe just read it. Good.
>> AUDIENCE: Janet Hoffman, Professor For internet politics in Berlin, Germany.
A lot of the issues that were addressed so far seem to be covered more or less by the IGF. So, in a way, I think I echo Paul Wilson's point about how the IGF and the Global Compact will, actually, be related to each other. We talked a lot about internet fragmentation. We also need to worry about fragmentation and internet governance.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thanks so much, Jeanette. And, please, we have to close the lines. We have the gentleman there, to my left. Introduce yourself.
>> AUDIENCE: Thank you, Poncelet, Gambia NRI. I would like to get the opinion of the panel when Gambia, when we did our GDC consultation process, we involved all stakeholders, including the government and in doing the submissions, I would like to know how you feel about that process, because we felt it was necessary to get our government inputs. Thank you.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much.
And we go to my right. Please.
>> AUDIENCE: Hello. Thank you for the panel. My name is Laura Perera, I'm a youth delegate from Brazil. My question is, I believe that the critics that were resonated in the panel are a flex of how the label of multistakeholderism has been applied to multilateral process or to process in general as a sin minute of public consultation. As we know as a community in internet governance that multistakeholder model must be more than that, however hard it be to prioritize and put a position into practice here.
Is it possible for us to use the GDC model and choose the IGF opportunity to set an updated standards to allow the use of the multistakeholder as a label to the process? Can we develop updates, an updated standard to classify a process as multistakeholder or not multistakeholder? Isn't that the agenda for all of us here at the IGF? Thank you all.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much.
We had --
>> AUDIENCE: Hello. My name is (?). I am from APC. I have a question for Amandeep.
Two things. What would you see as a scenario of a failure for GDC? And on the other hand, what would you say a success, like two years from now?
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you. Very concrete questions.
And we have Anriette, please, from the online comment.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUSEN: We don't need new bureaucracies, that competes with IGF for resources and attention. We need to renew the IGF's mandate and strengthen the process. This point has been made repeatedly throughout the GDC process.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you, Amrita.
And very shortly, the gentleman there, to my left very shortly, please. Go.
>> AUDIENCE: Thank you very much. We discussed a lot about the content of the Global Compact, Digital Compact as it relates to partnership. But what about accountability mechanism after having the law or compact? Because we agree on many things, but the implementation part is always poor, especially the developed countries are not responsible to the developing countries to build their capacity for the smooth implementation of compact, should that how the UN System and other agencies will be responsible and accountable in this matter. Thank you very much.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much for keeping it short. Very important point.
And in the interest of time, we have to go already to your final takeaways. If you can react there very shortly, in one minute, each of you, to what has been said now in this last round.
I would begin with Paul, please.
>> PAUL WILSON: I have said before that the internet deserves a Nobel Prize for how it served humanity during COVID and I am inspired by the play by Valeria, actually, which was to recognize really, she is facing humanity and I think COVID was a fantastic example of a real issue addressed, actually, not just by the internet, but by the digital capacities of the world, medical science, for instance, in a major way.
And I really think there are other nondigital issues, which are happening right now. They are existential for humanity, for communities and for humanity.
And those nondigital issues need to be addressed. If they are not, if digital issues only going to occupy us, then let's be sure as I said, I think third time, not just rearranging deck chairs but building on what we have on the innovations here in this venue and around the world to produce real, nondigital outcomes because that's what the planet actually needs right now. Thank you.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much.
Bitange.
>> BITANGE NDEMO: I think we have very chance for coming up with a guiding framework for policymakers, government and other stakeholders. This is the time to do it because we have seen the importance of the internet. We need to create a future that is more inclusive. Need to create a future that enables innovative programmes to come up with.
But we must get a chance to deliver those issues like we are doing right now. As a formerly a policymaker, I benefited from discussing with stakeholders, civil society. It worked. But most governments sometimes push aside civil society to their discussions. But as you can see, there is so much we can learn from each other. Thank you.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you so much.
Raul.
>> RAUL ECHEBERRI: Thank you, Jorge. Every stakeholder has a huge responsibility in this area, on these topics. And governments have a huge responsibility in accelerating innovation, in creating enabling environments for building new, more inclusive and equitable development models and really creating avenues for making the technology impact in a positive manner in the life of everybody in the world. So, this is a good opportunity for this discussion to bring forth that.
With regard to the process, it's clear that we need more opportunities of participation for stakeholders in the process toward the Summit of the Future and the adoption of the Global Digital Compact, and, of course, I echo everybody's comments with regard to the need to strengthen IGF and keeping IGF as the centre venue for dealing with those issues after the Summit of the Future. Thank you.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thanks so much, Raul.
Valeria.
>> VALERIA BETTANCOURT: Thank you. I think we are all aware of the injustices of the current order and we know the problem, diagnoses already, so we also recognize in order to power held by the few that control policy spaces. The silent consensus that we cannot regulate big tech has to be challenged. We need the political commitment and we need Member States to measure up.
Global digital governance including regime for that governance should set for equity and for fairness and in that way, benefit, everyone should benefit from the digitalization. And ensure that those benefits are distributed to ensure dignified life for everyone.
Any institutional arrangement decided in the framework of the Global Digital Compact manhunt work the path of reinforcing the current unjust order. What we seek and what we need is a feminist, sustainable and transformative vision for a digital future that is really and truly open, free and secure.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you, Valeria.
Amandeep, you have the last takeaway.
>> AMANDEEP SINGH GILL: Thank you. I liked the last point someone made by accountability. I think there's no doubt that the challenge is such that we need more action by more people. I think on that, we can all agree. So, the current level of action, the current level of response is not adequate. So, we need to go to the next level.
And it's also important that we have accountability and we have justice in terms of the governance, that the entry barriers to participation in the governance discussions are lower.
And the point made by Raul about smaller delegations, there are 160 plus countries who shouldn't be running from forum to forum and then figuring out what whole common perspective on digital looks like. So, we need to make that task easier and make sure that people have agency over the digital transformation. Only a few countries, only a few corporations have the resources to engage on digital issues in multiple forums.
So, there is a fragmented landscape already. What we need to do is plug the gaps and just as in the Secretary General's policy brief, you see with that info graphic, critical gaps on misinformation, disinformation, the accountability for human rights, the issue of AI governance, and there are ongoing initiatives, like the IGF Leadership Panel to strengthen the IGF and plug that gap.
So, that's what we need today. And if you allow me a few seconds on the success of failure. Just in one sentence. The failure is if we don't use the opportunity of the Summit of the Future to raise the level of ambition, raise the level of activity, raise the level of governance across our responses, success is exactly the opposite. We have to rise to that challenge.
>> JORGE CANCIO: Thank you, Amandeep.
And I think really this community is up to that challenge. And thank you so much for being able to profiting from picking your brains, picking the brains of the audience, both you physically and online. And Anriette, please.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thanks, there isn't really time for closing remarks but very briefly, I think when it comes to process, we have to abandon complacency. There's a need for improving governance and for more accountabilities, as has just been said. We need that to within this multistakeholder process, we need it within the multilateral. We also need more cooperation within each of these and between them.
So, let's do this evolution and improvement together.
On content, I think what is really challenging, the GDC has put that into focus, is never getting the specificity of internet development and growth and governance, but also how it intersects with broader governance issues. We need to do both. And I think the GDC and the Summit of the Future and the link with the SDGs is putting that into focus. It's not easy and we can do it. And the IGF is a very important part of that.
I think in terms of follow-up, I just want to bring to us a phrase from the WSIS outcome documents, enabling environment. If you read the WSIS outcome document, that's how it describes the role of governments, to create an enabling environment for people centered development, human rights and inclusion.
So, I think let's keep that in mind, that it's not just about the topics that we are discussing specifically in the GDC. It's creating an enabling environment for not just dealing with current challenges, but also emerging challenges.
Thanks to everyone for very good input, excellent panel, and apologies to online participants if we did not give you enough space. And to the MAG who organized this. Thanks a lot.
(Applause)