IGF 2025 Day 0 Event #85 Interoperability and the Global Internet

Interoperability is core to a functioning Internet, and use of different tools connecting to the medium. We all know what it’s like when for some reason our email doesn’t go through, our tools don’t work seamlessly. That is, no one likes it when the Internet isn’t working for them, when their apps won’t connect or their websites won’t resolve in their browsers. Increasingly, all play a role in this. Governments worldwide are exploring or implementing legislation to regulate aspects of the Internet, or the content people have access to. But sometimes in the course of drafting those new laws, the language unintentionally regulates, or impacts, the underlying infrastructure in a way that can break or fragment the Internet for everybody and their use. This session will examine the role of governments, technical community, private businesses, academia in enhancing Internet infrastructure resilience, clearly delineating where regulations could help versus where they might harm, and the importance of engaging parties that operationalize the regulations to ensure unintended consequences are mitigated. It will highlight the critical importance of sustained dialogue between governments and the technical governance bodies that oversee fundamental internet functions. Session Objectives: Participants gain practical understanding of the necessity of a shared responsibility approach to maintaining core infrastructure resilience; a truly multistakeholder model involving governments, enterprises, academia, and civil society. Discussion Topics: (1) Brief discussion of the layers of the Internet: the infrastructure layer and the content layer; and how interoperability at the infrastructure layer is why the Internet is such a marvelous invention. (2) Examples of draft legislation and regulations targeting the content layer which inadvertently could impact the infrastructure layer in a way that might cause the Internet to break for everybody. (3) A focus on how to improve the drafting of new regulations via digital cooperation to ensure informed policymaking that supports, rather than disrupts, Internet infrastructure. Expected Outcomes: * Establish a formal framework for shared responsibility across stakeholders (engineers, governance forums, governments, enterprises, academia, and civil society) to maintain internet core infrastructure resilience. * Develop concrete mechanisms for ongoing multistakeholder collaboration. * Create actionable guidelines that clearly define roles and responsibilities for each stakeholder group in preserving internet infrastructure resilience. * Formulate practical recommendations for implementing the multistakeholder model in various regional and national contexts. * Identify key performance indicators to measure the effectiveness of collaborative approaches to internet infrastructure resilience.

ICANN has a proven track record of successfully organizing large-scale hybrid meetings that foster inclusive, multilingual, and globally diverse participation—key priorities for the IGF community. Each year, ICANN’s three main hybrid meetings bring together at least 1,000 onsite and 1,000 online participants, engaging in open discussions, policy development, and knowledge-sharing across multiple time zones and languages. Beyond these flagship events, ICANN regularly hosts smaller hybrid sessions, from capacity-building initiatives to technical and policy dialogues, ensuring that all stakeholders—regardless of location—can contribute meaningfully. This experience positions ICANN as a strong partner in supporting effective and accessible hybrid discussions at IGF.