Session
Subtheme
Organizer 1: Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 2: Technical Community, African Group
Organizer 3: Technical Community, Intergovernmental Organization
Organizer 2: Technical Community, African Group
Organizer 3: Technical Community, Intergovernmental Organization
Speaker 1: Theresa Swinehart, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Amrita Choudhury, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 3: Bernadette Lewis, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Speaker 4: Jaco Toit, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Speaker 2: Amrita Choudhury, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 3: Bernadette Lewis, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Speaker 4: Jaco Toit, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Format
Classroom
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: Designed in a classroom-style format, the workshop will blend expert insights with collaborative exercises to deepen understanding and equip session participants with strategies for effective engagement in global technical internet governance. By the end, attendees will have skills and knowledge to contribute meaningfully to digital cooperation discussions and governance processes. A 60-minute session will ensure a focused, interactive session with a well-structured flow.
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: Designed in a classroom-style format, the workshop will blend expert insights with collaborative exercises to deepen understanding and equip session participants with strategies for effective engagement in global technical internet governance. By the end, attendees will have skills and knowledge to contribute meaningfully to digital cooperation discussions and governance processes. A 60-minute session will ensure a focused, interactive session with a well-structured flow.
Policy Question(s)
1. How can we ensure underrepresented communities have a meaningful role in technical Internet governance?
2. What near-term opportunities can foster cross-sector collaboration to promote diverse participation in digital governance?
3. How can we address the challenges of ensuring inclusive digital cooperation while integrating underserved communities into technical Internet governance?
4. How can UNESCO’s policy frameworks, including the 2003 Recommendation Concerning Multilingualism in Cyberspace, support the integration of underrepresented languages and communities into technical internet governance?
5. What governance mechanisms should be developed to ensure AI does not contribute to linguistic homogenization?
What will participants gain from attending this session? 1. Deeper Understanding of Digital Cooperation & Stakeholder Participation: participants will gain a clear understanding of how technical internet governance supports digital cooperation and the importance of diverse and balanced stakeholder participation, including UNESCO’s role in promoting multilingualism and digital inclusion.
2. Concrete recommendations for strengthening multistakeholder collaboration and knowledge sharing through partnerships between governments, academia, industry, civil society, and indigenous communities to co-create sustainable, community-driven language solutions, while gathering valuable feedback from the Internet governance community on UNESCO's newly developed Roadmap on Language Technologies and Multilingualism, which was recently created based on the outcomes of the Language Technologies for All (LT4All) conference held at UNESCO in February 2025.
3. Attendees will learn about near-term opportunities for encouraging diverse stakeholder engagement in technical internet governance processes, including initiatives like the Applicant Support Program, Universal Acceptance, and UNESCO's policy frameworks supporting equitable participation in the digital space.
Description:
Digital Cooperation and Empowerment: Strengthening Multistakeholder Participation in Technical Internet Governance Building effective digital cooperation requires a balanced and diverse representation from all sectors, including governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, academia, and the technical community. Fostering meaningful participation among diverse stakeholders goes beyond connectivity and skills development; it involves active participation in technical internet governance. This session will highlight tangible opportunities to foster more active, balanced, and diverse participation in key elements of technical internet governance such as ICANN’s new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) Program, its Applicant Support Program (ASP), Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), and enabling users to engage online in their languages, scripts, and preferred digital identities via Universal Acceptance (UA). In line with the UNESCO 2003 Recommendation Concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace, fostering linguistic diversity in digital spaces is crucial to ensuring equitable access to information and knowledge. This workshop will also explore how language technologies can address linguistic diversity in the digital space, referencing UNESCO's Roadmap on Language Technologies that aims to provide strategic guidance for stakeholders to collaboratively develop and use language technologies as a means to ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for all language communities. By exploring opportunities for stakeholder participation and global collaboration, workshop participants will engage in discussion on how technical internet governance–and efforts to ensure linguistic diversity– can offer underserved communities meaningful opportunities to contribute to digital cooperation, fostering more fulsome participation in the digital economy, governance, and society.
Digital Cooperation and Empowerment: Strengthening Multistakeholder Participation in Technical Internet Governance Building effective digital cooperation requires a balanced and diverse representation from all sectors, including governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, academia, and the technical community. Fostering meaningful participation among diverse stakeholders goes beyond connectivity and skills development; it involves active participation in technical internet governance. This session will highlight tangible opportunities to foster more active, balanced, and diverse participation in key elements of technical internet governance such as ICANN’s new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) Program, its Applicant Support Program (ASP), Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), and enabling users to engage online in their languages, scripts, and preferred digital identities via Universal Acceptance (UA). In line with the UNESCO 2003 Recommendation Concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace, fostering linguistic diversity in digital spaces is crucial to ensuring equitable access to information and knowledge. This workshop will also explore how language technologies can address linguistic diversity in the digital space, referencing UNESCO's Roadmap on Language Technologies that aims to provide strategic guidance for stakeholders to collaboratively develop and use language technologies as a means to ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for all language communities. By exploring opportunities for stakeholder participation and global collaboration, workshop participants will engage in discussion on how technical internet governance–and efforts to ensure linguistic diversity– can offer underserved communities meaningful opportunities to contribute to digital cooperation, fostering more fulsome participation in the digital economy, governance, and society.
Expected Outcomes
1. How participation in technical Internet governance–(via operational management and policy development) contributes to digital cooperation, offering a tangible pathway for marginalized or underserved communities to shape the future of the internet.
2. Near-term, tangible opportunities for promoting diverse and balanced participation in internet governance processes and structures, with an emphasis on how new opportunities for participation in technical internet governance can foster digital cooperation across the broader digital ecosystem and related multi-stakeholder processes.
3. Trigger thinking for cross-sector collaboration to promote balanced and diverse participation particularly from underrepresented groups, in shaping digital cooperation and governance–focusing on near-term opportunities in technical Internet governance.
4. Highlight the role of UNESCO, as an International Organization in advancing multilingualism online and fostering inclusive digital cooperation through policy advocacy, capacity-building and International collaboration.
Hybrid Format: ICANN has a proven track record of successfully organizing large-scale hybrid meetings that foster inclusive, multilingual, and globally diverse participation. Our moderators are highly experienced with the hybrid approach, and the online moderator will facilitate engagement between virtual and in-person attendees, ensuring seamless integration of questions and comments from both audiences using Zoom's various functions.
Additionally, ICANN and UNESCO Communications teams will collaborate for social media engagement via Twitter (X) and LinkedIn. This will extend the conversation beyond the session, allowing broader input from the global community. These tools will ensure an inclusive, interactive, and engaging experience for all participants.