The government of Germany will, from November 26 to 29, 2019, host the 14th meeting of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) at the Estrel Congress Centre in Berlin.
Holding under the overarching theme: ‘’One World. One Net. One Vision,’’ the Forum will bring together more than 2,000 participants from different stakeholder groups and some of the most prominent individuals in the global Internet governance discussion.
In line with its policy of involving all stakeholders and following extensive, broad-based, and multi-stakeholder discussion on the thematic direction for IGF activities in 2019, the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) identified three priority themes for a focused and cohesive programme for this year namely Data Governance; Digital Inclusion; and Security, Safety, Stability & Resilience.
The detailed programme of the 14th IGF, including its main sessions and workshops, as well as related information, is available at the IGF website https://www.intgovforum.org. This programme will be enriched by the community-led Best Practice Forums on Big Data, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence; Cybersecurity; Gender and Access; and Local Content, as well as by the work of 18 multistakeholder Dynamic Coalitions and 116 national and regional IGF initiatives.
This edition of the IGF will focus on how digital frontier technologies bring benefits to our economies and societies. Their transformative impact is critical to the future sustainability of our world and to the achievements of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, with these great benefits also come a growing number of concerns and challenges including cyber-attacks, data and privacy breaches, and proliferation of hate speech and censorship which, in addition to other emerging challenges, threaten to undermine the beneficial impact of the Internet.
The IGF was established in 2006 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and set up as an open discussion platform of the United Nations for key legal, political, social and technical issues relating to the internet. It is designed according to the “multi-stakeholder” model, meaning that all the relevant societal groups including governments, civil society, business, academia, international organisations and the technical community are equally involved in preparations and implementation.
The IGF does not make any binding decision, but only serves in an advisory capacity. It is held annually for the purposes of discussion, information and inspiration, with the primary objective of facilitating equitable and constructive dialogue between the various representatives, and to play a role in shaping debate within the relevant decision-making bodies at a national and international level.
