Title: Shaping the Future of Internet Governance: An Open Dialogue between Pioneers and Young Leaders.

Date/Length/Time: 9 December, 120 minutes / First segment: 11:30 to 13:00; Second segment: 15:00 to 15:30.

About:

The main session is designed to provoke a conversation between different generations about the state of art of the Internet Ecosystem, proposing a future agenda for this environment. Newcomers and younger generations will be in contact with historical Internet actors debating Internet Governance challenges and nurturing an exchange of experiences and different ideas on various issues before the Internet community.

The session proposes to engage the participants in a debate/roundtable dialogue, exploring the different generational perspectives of pioneers and youngsters. One young leader and one pioneer from each continent will join the session.

Such a dialogue will focus on the following issues:

·         Relevant lessons learned by pioneers in their historic involvement with Internet governance at-large;

·         The challenges, obstacles and possibilities from the youth perspective for meaningful engagement, participation and impact in IG events and related initiatives;

·         Modes of documenting the historic record to better inform technical and policy decisions in the future;

·         Desirable modalities of capacity development for the empowerment of future generations to join Internet governance discussions and policy-making processes on an equal footing with senior stakeholders;

·         Possible synergies between different generations in order to enable an inclusive Internet as a means for sustainable growth and development around the world.

Agenda:

First segment:

1.    Opening speech by the chair – 5 minutes

2.    Opening remarks and presentation of policy questions by the moderators – 10 minutes

3.    Each policy question is addressed by one pair of speakers (one pioneer and one youth) – 60 minutes

4.    Moderators summarize discussions for open mic dialogue.

Second segment: Open mic session – 30 minutes.

Policy Questions: [provisional]

1.    What lessons learned by pioneers and youngsters in their historic involvement with Internet governance are relevant to inform discussions between generations?

2.    What are the perceived challenges, obstacles and possibilities for meaningful youth engagement, participation and impact in IG events and related initiatives?

3.    What are the desired and needed modes of documenting the historic record to better inform technical and policy decisions in the future?

4.    What are the desirable modalities of capacity development for the empowerment of future generations to join Internet governance discussions and policy-making processes on an equal footing with senior stakeholders?

5.    What sorts of synergies between different generations are necessary to enable an inclusive Internet as a means for sustainable growth and development around the world?

Chairs (organizers):

  • Flávio R. Wagner, MAG member, technical community
  • Liesyl Franz, MAG member, government
  • Bianca Ho, MAG member, civil society, young leader
  • Ephraim Kenyanito, MAG member, civil society, young leader
  • Thiago Tavares, CGI.br and Safernet, civil society
  • Nathalia Sautchuk, CGI.br advisory team, technical community
  • Kimberly Anastacio, Youth Observatory/ISOC, civil society
  • Marcel Leonardi, Google, private sector

In-room moderators: Hartmut Glaser (CGI.br), Thiago Tavares (SaferNet), young leader (TBD)

Remote moderator: Nathalia Sautchuk Patricio (CGI.br)

Rapporteurs: Vinicius Santos (CGI.br) and Angelica Contreras (Mexico)

Host Country Chair: Victor Lagunes, Govt. of Mexico

Panelists/Speakers:

Pioneers

  • Latin America: Raúl Echeberría (technical sector)
  • North America: Vint Cerf (private sector)
  • Africa: Anriette Esterhuysen (civil society)
  • Europe: Stefano Trumpy (government) 
  • Asia: TBD

Young leaders

  • Latin America: Kimberly Anastacio (civil society)
  • North America: Grace Abuhamad (government)
  • Africa: Ephraim Kenyanito (civil society)
  • Europe: Florian Daniel (private sector)
  • Asia / Pacific: Bianca Ho (civil society)

Plan for in-room participant engagement/Interaction:

The first segment of the session comprises an iteration of questions (policy questions) and answers addressed by the speakers listed above. The second segment of the session will host an open mic/dialogue session with 2-minute interventions by the audience using cue lines in the room. Questions to speakers in the previous segment will not be allowed. Speakers who wish to react to an intervention will have to enter the cue line as a regular member of the audience.

Remote moderator/Plan for online interaction:

Remote/online interaction: Online participation via WebEx and social media is envisioned.

Hashtags: #YouthIGF and #InternetGenerationsTogether.

Remote moderator: Nathalia Sautchuk Patricio

Connections with other sessions:

The main session connects to at least five other sessions in the IGF that directly deal with youth engagement. It also deals with all sessions that aim at assessing the challenges and opportunities inherent to the future of Internet governance, both from a technical and a policy perspective.

  • OF53: YOUTH IGF.

  • WS84: Youth in IG: Capacity building vs Policy discussion

  • WS126: Safe&Secure Cyberspace for Youth: Solutions for Asia & Africa

  • WS225: Hands-on youth-driven Internet initiatives

  • WS160: Social media and youth radicalization in the digital age

  • WS27: WePROTECT: Combating online child sexual abuse with the MSM

  • Best Practice Forum: Gender & Access

  • High Level Session / Taking Stock: Emerging Issues - Future of the IGF and IGF Retreat Consultation

  • Main Session: National and Regional IGFs (NRIs)

  • Main Sessoin: Assessing the Role of Internet Governance in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  • WS138: Solutions for countering online abuse against women

  • WS15: An ‘Internet of Women’ by 2020: WSIS Vision into Reality

  • WS22: Local content and sustainable growth

  • WS63: ICANN New gTLD Program: Exploring Impact & Future Direction

  • WS99: Multicultural and multistakeholder Capacity Building

Desired Results/Objectives:

The session aims at raising cross-generational awareness and at documenting the opinions of the speakers and the audience regarding each of the policy questions, taking special note on the action items that might stem from discussions. Those will be duly reported to the MAG and it is expected that a permanent track of cross-generational dialogue be created within the IGF track, including in national and regional levels.