Session
Subtheme
Organizer 1: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 2: Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 3: Civil Society, African Group
Organizer 4: Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 5: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 6: Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 2: Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 3: Civil Society, African Group
Organizer 4: Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 5: Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Organizer 6: Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 1: Chuang Liu, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 2: Kiril Manevski, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Lazarus Matizirofa, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 4: Philippe de Maeyer, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 5: Xiang Zhou, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 2: Kiril Manevski, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Lazarus Matizirofa, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 4: Philippe de Maeyer, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 5: Xiang Zhou, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
Format
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: The roundtable format fosters egalitarian dialogue, enabling diverse stakeholders to share perspectives equally. It enhances interaction and collaboration due to its circular layout, facilitating relationship - building. It enables in - depth discussion of complex topics, increasing engagement. Also, it encourages diverse perspectives from participants with different backgrounds, leading to more creative solutions. A 90-minute duration allows for structured yet flexible discussions to ensure a comprehensive exploration of the topic. It allows sufficient time for in - depth presentations to showcase best practices from speakers (30 minutes), vibrant discussions and interactive sessions such as moderated Q&A/breakout groups among speakers and onsite/online audience (40 minutes), and synthesizing actionable outcomes (20 minutes). This setup ensures depth while maintaining engagement across hybrid audiences.
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: The roundtable format fosters egalitarian dialogue, enabling diverse stakeholders to share perspectives equally. It enhances interaction and collaboration due to its circular layout, facilitating relationship - building. It enables in - depth discussion of complex topics, increasing engagement. Also, it encourages diverse perspectives from participants with different backgrounds, leading to more creative solutions. A 90-minute duration allows for structured yet flexible discussions to ensure a comprehensive exploration of the topic. It allows sufficient time for in - depth presentations to showcase best practices from speakers (30 minutes), vibrant discussions and interactive sessions such as moderated Q&A/breakout groups among speakers and onsite/online audience (40 minutes), and synthesizing actionable outcomes (20 minutes). This setup ensures depth while maintaining engagement across hybrid audiences.
Policy Question(s)
1. Challenges: What are the key challenges and governance issues in promoting digital collaboration between different stakeholder groups?
2. Collaboration Mechanism: Given the diverse interests and priorities of Mult-stakeholders in the digital space, what are the most effective mechanisms to ensure seamless and productive digital cooperation among these multiple stakeholders for inclusive and sustainable development?
3. Policy Implementation: How can countries and international organizations develop and implement harmonized policies that support digital cooperation while also ensuring data security, privacy protection, and ethical use of digital technologies?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Firstly, participants will have the opportunity to share viewpoints on digital cooperation, build connections and foster collaboration with different stakeholders. Secondly, they will learn about good digital cooperation practices from different regions and stakeholders’ groups around the world, draw practical experience applicable to their own backgrounds, and provide them with effective digital cooperation strategies. Thirdly, through in-depth discussions on key challenges, they will gain profound insights and develop targeted solutions. Finally, participants will have a deeper understanding of the Global Digital Compact, and be inspired to align their digital cooperation initiatives with it, thus contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable digital future.
SDGs
1. No Poverty
1.4
1.a
5. Gender Equality
5.1
5.b
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
7.b
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
9.4
9.5
9.b
9.c
10. Reduced Inequalities
10.2
10.3
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
11.7
11.a
11.c
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
16.10
17. Partnerships for the Goals
17.16
17.17
17.6
17.7
17.8
17.9
1.4
1.a
5. Gender Equality
5.1
5.b
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
7.b
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
9.4
9.5
9.b
9.c
10. Reduced Inequalities
10.2
10.3
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
11.7
11.a
11.c
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
16.10
17. Partnerships for the Goals
17.16
17.17
17.6
17.7
17.8
17.9
Description:
The rapid evolution of digital technologies presents unprecedented opportunities to advance global development, yet persistent divides in access, governance, and innovation threaten to exacerbate inequalities. The Global Digital Compact (GDC) is a landmark initiative and a crucial guiding framework to call for inclusive multistakeholder cooperation to ensure digital technologies serve as a force for equity, sustainability, and human rights, and to address systemic barriers such as the exclusion of 2.6 billion offline individuals (ITU, 2024)—predominantly in the Global South. This is precisely where digital cooperation becomes essential. By fostering collaboration among various stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, civil society, and international organizations, we can take tangible steps to bridge the digital divide. For example, public-private partnerships can play a vital role in building digital infrastructure in underprivileged areas. Through joint efforts, high-speed internet can be made accessible to more people, laying the foundation for their digital participation. Moreover, such inclusive digital development is the key to achieving sustainable growth. When more people are connected and empowered in the digital realm, a wealth of innovative solutions can be generated to address global challenges such as climate change, poverty alleviation, and healthcare improvement. In this way, we can move closer to building a more sustainable and inclusive future, as envisioned by the GDC. However, challenges persist. Diverse regulatory frameworks among countries cause confusion in cross-border cooperation. Additionally, issues like data privacy concerns and uneven digital skills distribution hinder effective collaboration. These problems need to be addressed for successful digital cooperation. This workshop builds on IGF 2024 discussions (WS#49: Benefit Everyone from Digital Tech Equally & Inclusively) aims to showcase good practices for digital cooperation and foster dialogue and collaboration among multi-stakeholders in order to explore innovative approaches to strengthen digital cooperation and address challenges to promote inclusive and sustainable development.
The rapid evolution of digital technologies presents unprecedented opportunities to advance global development, yet persistent divides in access, governance, and innovation threaten to exacerbate inequalities. The Global Digital Compact (GDC) is a landmark initiative and a crucial guiding framework to call for inclusive multistakeholder cooperation to ensure digital technologies serve as a force for equity, sustainability, and human rights, and to address systemic barriers such as the exclusion of 2.6 billion offline individuals (ITU, 2024)—predominantly in the Global South. This is precisely where digital cooperation becomes essential. By fostering collaboration among various stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, civil society, and international organizations, we can take tangible steps to bridge the digital divide. For example, public-private partnerships can play a vital role in building digital infrastructure in underprivileged areas. Through joint efforts, high-speed internet can be made accessible to more people, laying the foundation for their digital participation. Moreover, such inclusive digital development is the key to achieving sustainable growth. When more people are connected and empowered in the digital realm, a wealth of innovative solutions can be generated to address global challenges such as climate change, poverty alleviation, and healthcare improvement. In this way, we can move closer to building a more sustainable and inclusive future, as envisioned by the GDC. However, challenges persist. Diverse regulatory frameworks among countries cause confusion in cross-border cooperation. Additionally, issues like data privacy concerns and uneven digital skills distribution hinder effective collaboration. These problems need to be addressed for successful digital cooperation. This workshop builds on IGF 2024 discussions (WS#49: Benefit Everyone from Digital Tech Equally & Inclusively) aims to showcase good practices for digital cooperation and foster dialogue and collaboration among multi-stakeholders in order to explore innovative approaches to strengthen digital cooperation and address challenges to promote inclusive and sustainable development.
Expected Outcomes
1. Collection of Best Practices: Covering the best practices in digital collaboration shared by workshop speakers and participants, which will be publicly released to share good experiences.
2. Follow-up Actionable Recommendations: Concrete recommendations will be developed to address the challenges in digital cooperation and promote the implementation of the Global Digital Compact.
3. Cooperation Mechanism: Explore the establishment of effective multi-stakeholder cooperation mechanism to ensure seamless and productive digital cooperation for inclusive and sustainable development.
4. Policy Framework: A policy brief outlining recommendations for harmonizing regional digital strategies with global cooperation frameworks.
Hybrid Format: 1. Interaction: Both online and onsite speakers and attendees will speak, discuss, or ask questions under the guidance of the moderator. There will be Q&A and discussion session to encourage every online or onsite participant to share their views to the issue. Our dedicated online moderator will be assigned to manage and curate questions from online attendees via Slido, displayed on-screen for real-time integration, ensuring that their voices are heard. Breakout groups will mix onsite and virtual participants using Zoom breakout rooms.
2. Design: Pre-circulate discussion prompts to all attendees. Use Miro boards for collaborative ideation, visible to both online and onsite groups. Post-session, share recordings and summaries via the IGF platform and social media.
3. Tools: Zoom, Slido, Miro, IGF virtual platform. These online tools will not only increase participation but also provide instant feedback, enabling us to gauge the audience's perspectives and adjust the discussion flow accordingly.