Session
Global Internet Governance Academic Network
Jamal Shahin, Giganet, Academic, WEOG Berna Gur, UNU-CRIS and Giganet, Academic, APG Daniel Oppermann, Giganet, Academic, GRULAC Roxana Radu, Blavatnik School of Government Oxford University, Academic, WEOG
The speakers will be identified during the summer months, as a result of the call for papers that will be published on 15 May 2024. The speakers for this academic conference will come from all regional groups - we engage a diverse group of rising and established researchers that are competitively selected through a blind peer-review process.
Jamal Shahin
Daniel Oppermann
Jamal Shahin
Targets: Our proposed symposium will develop links across academics from different parts of the world, who will be discussing issues pertinent to all the SDGs mentioned above. The symposium will also provide academic participants with the opportunity to share their research findings with members of other stakeholder groups present at the IGF, as well as provide a space for learning in the other direction. In relation to SDG 4.4, the symposium helps disseminate academic knowledge on the topic of internet governance, and supports training of younger scholars in this field. In relation to SDG 9.1, 9.5, the research presented at the GigaNet Annual symposium aims to strengthen research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for equitable access for all. In-depth research related to infrastructure, case studies highlighting technology and policy choices in developed and developing countries, as well as innovative technology governance solutions can contribute to achieving the SDGs at a time when digital technologies have become a key platform for their realisation. In relation to SDG 16.6, 16.8 and 16.10, evidence from robust research can enhance accountability and transparency of Internet governance-related institutions at all level, ensuring a diversity of voices from both developed and developing countries can be heard. Importantly, such research contributions also enhance access to information for the general public and protection of fundamental rights in areas for which regulation, legislation and case law is nascent.
Classroom
We are kindly requesting a **three hour** session for this academic conference. This is necessary due to the interest that has already been shown in participating in the symposium. In previous years, 56-100 papers have applied to present their research at our symposium. Through our selection procedure, which is currently underway, we shall select a number of these papers for presentation at the symposium. We aim to have two panels in the symposium, each with four or five papers being presented, with a chair and a discussant for each panel. We may invite practitioners to act as discussants in the symposium. A keynote speech will provide the launch of the symposium. The Giga-Net Academic Network will hold its Business Meeting at the end of the day, to which all members of the academic network are invited.
Papers on any internet/digital governance-related topic are welcome. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches are warmly encouraged. There will be the possibility for a focused subset of accepted papers to be fast-tracked for publication in a relevant journal. In previous years, collections of papers presented at the symposium were invited for publication in the journal Telecommunications Policy. We particularly welcome presentations of research that take a global perspective, and explicitly invite comparative papers. GigaNet encourages emerging scholars and researchers working with diverse methodologies to submit their work to the symposium. Proposals should be submitted in English. Participation in the GigaNet symposium is free of charge. The Global Internet Governance Academic Network traditionally holds its annual symposium on Day 0 of the IGF, and has done so since 2008. The symposium brings together a number of academics to discuss issues of pertinent to the Internet Governance community. We also aim to engage with practitioners who are active in both the technical community, civil society, and policymakers, by inviting them to participate in the event as discussants for sessions.
The session may be organised in a hybrid format, to ensure inclusiveness from as many parts of the world as possible. The Giga-Net Annual Symposium has carried out this exercise in previous years, and has experience in this field. GigaNet will ensure that online participants are able to interact with onsite participants in a constructive manner. We may use sli.do or mentimeter as tools to further engage with participants both onsite and online, in order to ensure that we can successfully balance the interactions between online and onsite participation.
Report
Academic researchers need to continue to reflect on the importance of their role at the IGF.
Research into multistakeholder approaches to internet governance continue to be contested, and the steps toward the next IGF are crucial for the future.
Continue to support academic debates at the IGF, ensuring that young scholars and scholars from all parts of the world have the opportunity to present research in this unique format.
Ensure that the academic debate held at the IGF does continue to encourage engagement of different stakeholders, through giving adequate space and opportunity in the IGF Schedule to these debates.