Journey to “Building Our Mulitistakeholder Digital Future”

Preparations for the 19th Internet Governance Forum in Riyadh: Emphasising Multistakeholder Collaboration for a Digital Future

The session titled “Journey to Building our Multistakeholder Digital Future” focused on the preparations for the 19th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) set to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 15 to 19 December 2024. Deniz Susar from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) moderated the discussion, highlighting the significance of the IGF in bringing together a diverse array of stakeholders to collaboratively shape the digital governance landscape. He encouraged wider participation, especially from those who have not previously attended an IGF meeting, to join either in person or online.

Carol Roach, Chair of the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), outlined the IGF’s role in addressing digital policy issues through the lens of various perspectives. She introduced the four sub-themes for the IGF 2024 program, which aim to address the multifaceted nature of the digital world, covering innovation and risk, digital contributions to peace and sustainability, human rights and inclusion, and digital governance. Roach emphasised the IGF’s bottom-up approach in program creation, which involved soliciting thematic input from over 300 stakeholders, with notable contributions from the African and Asia-Pacific regions, civil society, and the private sector.

MAG panelists reflected on the IGF’s overarching theme, noting the necessity of investing in the development of a multi-stakeholder space and the importance of allowing flexibility and creativity in session proposals. They also discussed the connection between the IGF’s initiatives and other global processes, such as the Global Digital Compact and the WSIS framework.

Asim A. Abobakr from Saudi Arabia’s Digital Government Authority provided detailed information on the logistical preparations for the IGF, including venue details, accommodations, and the symbolism behind the event’s logo. He reassured attendees, particularly the youth, that measures were being taken to ensure affordability and a positive experience.

Anja Gengo from the IGF Secretariat updated the audience on the intersessional work, which encompasses policy networks, best practice forums, dynamic coalitions, and capacity development activities. She highlighted the IGF’s commitment to engaging youth and stakeholders from developing countries, emphasising the importance of building capacity and fostering dialogue between current and future digital space leaders.

The session included a Q&A segment where audience members raised concerns and sought clarification on various topics. Questions addressed the affordability of accommodations for youth participants, the IGF’s role in the WSIS plus 20 review process, the inclusion of regional challenges, and the active role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the IGF. The panelists acknowledged these concerns and provided information on the initiatives in place to address them.

In conclusion, the session underscored the collaborative efforts of the IGF community to prepare for a successful and inclusive forum in 2024. The discussions highlighted the need for continued engagement from all stakeholders, the importance of addressing the unique challenges faced by developing countries and SMEs, and the value of disseminating the outcomes of the IGF’s intersessional activities to a broader audience. The session demonstrated a strong commitment to fostering a multi-stakeholder digital future and set the stage for a dynamic and impactful IGF 2024.

Deniz Susar:
session, Journey to Building our Multistakeholder Digital Future, Looking Ahead to the Internet Governance Forum, IGF 2024. My name is Deniz Susar. I work in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNDESA. As you may know, some of you, the IGF is convened by the UN Secretary General, and UNDESA is the UN Secretariat Department where IGF Secretariat is located. Today, we will learn about the 19th Internet Governance Forum, which will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 15 to 19 December this year, under the overarching theme, Building our Multistakeholder Digital Future. The IGF program is prepared by the Multistakeholder Advisory Group, appointed by the UN Secretary General, and we have the MAG Chair and many MAG members in the room today. In addition, every year IGF is hosted by a member state, and we have representatives from the host country with us. We very much appreciate all the past and future host countries and their contribution to the organization of the annual meeting. Assuming that IGF’s mandate will most likely be renewed in 2025, we encourage member states to consider offering hosting the annual meeting of the IGF starting from 2026 and onwards. Last but not least, we have the IGF Secretariat on the panel, along with the head of the IGF Secretariat in the floor. Before we start, I’m just curious, is there anyone in the room or online who has not attended an annual meeting of the IGF in person before? If you can raise your hand. Okay, there are quite a few number of people. And I think that’s a good sign because we want to reach to you and we want to convince you to attend in person, but if not, follow online. Yes, without further ado, I would like to introduce Ms. Carol Roach, Chair of the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group, MACC. She’s overseeing the program and we will appreciate an update on the progress, but also an update about the program and the connection between Global Digital Compact and also the VISIS framework, because since we are here in Geneva during the VISIS meeting. Over to you.

Carol Roach:
Thank you very much. Distinguished participants, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to be with you today as Chair of the UN Internet Governance Forum Multistakeholder Advisory Group, MACC. I have been privileged to serve as appointee of the UN Secretary General, together with other 40 members that form the IGF MACC. And I thank them for supporting today, for being in the room and for being online. As a multistakeholder, multidisciplinary global group from all parts of the world, we advise the Secretary General on the program of the IGF, tackling digital policy issues by providing our diverse perspectives. The forum operates on a multistakeholder basis where all stakeholders participate on an equal footing. We are at an important, very important moment for the Internet and digital space. The Global Digital Compact is aimed to be agreed upon during the Summit of the Future and the VISIS Plus 20 review process will consider the extension of the IGF mandate in 2025. The active participants of everyone is of crucial importance. We are excited to provide today a forecast of the 19th Internet Governance Forum, together with our counterpart from Saudi host country and from the IGF Secretariat. Welcome and thank you. As some of you may know, the IGF 2024 takes place from the 15th to the 19th of December in Riyadh under the overarching theme of building our multistakeholder digital future. Following the spirit of the IGF, the program is created based on a bottom-up approach. We launched a call for thematic input earlier this year, in which over 300 stakeholders informed the IGF MAG about their topical preferences. We had strong participation from the African and Asian-Pacific groups, as well as from civil society and the private sector. Taking into consideration the stakeholders’ thematic input, the IGF 2024 program will be developed according to four sub-themes. One, harnessing innovation and balancing risks in the digital space. Two, enhancing the digital contribution to peace, development and sustainability. Three, advancing human rights and inclusion in the digital age. Four, improving the digital governance for the Internet we want. This sub-theme makes a reference to the vision of achieving the Internet we want, a paper drafted by the IGF Leadership Panel in consultation with the IGF community. We closed our call for session proposals beginning of the month and received over 470 proposals from stakeholders. The Asia-Pacific group, as I said earlier, put forward most of the submissions, considering the region that IGF will be held this year. year. Submitters were most drawn by the sub themes, harnessing innovation and balancing risks and improving digital governance for the internet we want. The IGF MAG is currently reviewing and selecting workshop proposals and we expect to publish an IGF 2024 program in July. The IGF MAG will then proceed with the organization of the IGF main sessions in close collaboration with the IGF Secretariat and the host country who are developing the high level leaders sessions. The IGF will continue to its engagement with future leaders by its youth track on the theme empowering young leaders for trusted AI. We expect another successful parliamentary track and are excited about the judiciary track which was requested by stakeholders and you will hear more on those two tracks from the Secretariat in a moment. Rooted in innovation, business play a crucial role in the digital ecosystem. Their involvement is vital in addressing the complex challenges and opportunities presented by the digital age and we are closely working with the host country and business representatives to further enhance the participation of private sector in the IGF. Before passing on the floor to my fellow panelists, I would like to inform all those interested in showcasing their work and connecting with 9,000 plus participants that you can still apply for exhibition booths until the 30th of June via the IGF website. We are looking forward to seeing you all in Riyadh or online. I thank you very much. And today we have some of the MAG members who are excited to tell you about the work that’s going on and what to expect. So we will be hearing from Olga, Sameer, and Zao. Thank you, Olga.

Deniz Susar:
Yeah, I just want to say two minutes, please, for each speaker. Thank you.

Panelist 1:
Thank you, Carol. Hello, everyone. So I just wanted maybe to add to what Carol already mentioned that this year’s overarching theme was quite important for the MAG to reflect that IGF being at its pivotal moment is what is special for IGF is its multi-stakeholder character. This is why it is also reflected in the overarching theme. But also, it is important because we also show that we need to invest effort into building this multi-stakeholder space, that this is not something which is given to us for granted. This is why we are studying this formulation of this sentence as building our multi-stakeholder digital future. Because this is also about reflecting what has been done so far, but also how we want to move forward. And this requires us to coordinate between ourselves and to see how we want to cooperate in the future based on the principle of multi-stakeholders, but also ensuring that all interested stakeholders can have the space and can have the opportunity to influence how the digital policies are being framed. And there was also an attempt by the MAG to somehow reduce the number of thematic tracks and to make the agenda more focused this year, but also not to go too much into the specifics of what should be covered under each specific track. This way, giving an opportunity to people who will be submitting the session proposals to be flexible, but also creative in those topics which they want to share and reflect in this year’s IGF agenda. But overall, we believe that those four sub-themes which have been selected, they quite organically supplement each other and altogether they give us an opportunity to reflect both on the challenges and the opportunities that the internet, digital, and technology are bringing into our lives. And it also helps us to connect with those. processes which are happening in parallel, which are the Global Digital Compact, WSIS plus 20, but also the internet we want, which was proposed by the IGF leadership panel. So, all in all, if there is enough effort invested by all of us for this year’s IGF, hopefully we will get good results to move forward. Thank you.

Deniz Susar:
Thank you so much. Shah, who is next? Sumeya? Okay.

Panelist 2:
Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to highlight the venue at which we are. The ITU is a perfect microcosm of how multilateral and multi-stakeholder approaches can go along side by side in a complementary way. And this is what IGF has been, and I see that it will evolve to become in complementarity and in synergy with other global and UN processes and initiatives on processes and initiatives on digital issues. The thematic focus of the IGF and its sub-themes present the same endeavor. We see that there are topics on risk-proof digital innovation, ICTs for peace, development, SDGs, online human rights, and global governance of digital realm. One way or other, these all issues are being addressed at different UN platforms. But what is unique by the IGF is its bottom-up approach. It is bringing fresh perspective from all communities, all stakeholders, and also the open-mindedness and pragmatic space that is apolitical and very much credible in its dialogue, providing solutions for the challenges that we face in the digital space. At the same time, IGF has also the potential to come up as a platform for capacity building and also confidence building measure in the digital realm because of the tensions that we have in today’s politicized world. So in a way, I see in my personal capacity that the theme and also the sub-themes of IGF are very much in complementarity with the UN processes and other global initiatives, and that’s a positive. We also have this opportunity that we will be having Pact of the Future and GDC, and immediately after that, there will be IGF. So IGF will be an opportunity to further elaborate on the principles that will be agreed in these new documents, these globally consensus-driven documents. So IGF will also be an opportunity to elaborate further how these principles apply in the practical world. Thank you.

Deniz Susar:
Thank you so much. The last speaker from MAG is Xiao.

Panelist 3:
Hi, good morning. I believe we are promoting digital cooperation in a multi-stakeholder way. I would like to use four words. The first word is balance. I think we are in a discussion. We are trying to see things in a balanced way, not only digital technology innovation, but the risks, so in a balanced way. And also you can, the second one is inclusion. In the past topics, we are focused on very specific areas. But this year, we see that there’s so many innovations. We want to be aligned with SDG. So in a broader, four sub-themes, we see inclusionally. The third word is common ground. If you see in each sub-theme, the common ground is aligned with GDC and SDG. For example, to bridge the digital divide and accelerate the progress on SDG, we mentioned also to promote digital technologies to SDG. And for example, like this. The fourth word is compromise. I must mention that in the discussion, we are first involved in such an interesting experience. I think we have a lot of quarrel not to fight and it’s such an interesting experience. interesting that people are so active, the MAG members are so active, so involved, and we listened, and we have a lot of different backgrounds, different perspectives. But after the deep involvement, we understand. So it’s such a compromise experience I really enjoy. And I think both GDC and ICT are compromise of different backgrounds and different member states. So it’s such an interesting experience. Definitely think we are working together through a multi-stakeholder approach to the same goal, the internet we want, to make the world better. So join us. Thank you.

Deniz Susar:
Thank you. Thank you so much. I think these were very valuable inputs in addition to what MAG Chair said. We will have GDC, just after that there will be IGF, and then we will start talking about WSIS Plus 20 overall review, which will decide the future of IGF, as well as this WSIS Forum and WSIS Action Lines. We now turn into Mr. Asim Abubakar, General Manager, Partnership and International Cooperation, Digital Government Authority, DGA, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He will present on the advances being made in the organization of the IGF, and also give an update about the logistical preparations and what participants can look forward to. The floor is yours.

Asim A. Abobakr:
Thank you, Denis. Thank you all, and good morning. Let me start with echoing Carol. Good morning, all. Let me start with echoing Ms. Carol. We welcome you all to join us in December. This is a very significant event for us, and we are investing so much in it. In this short presentation, we will see the progress and all the information that is good to know before even going to Saudi. We will talk about Riyadh a little bit, and also Saudi Arabia. We will talk about the logo and the philosophy behind the logo, and then we’ll touch on the venue that will be hosting the IGF, and then the roadmap and the progress. Let me start with Riyadh. It sits in the middle of Saudi Arabia. It’s the capital of Saudi Arabia. It’s almost 7 million people in 2022, and the population, of course, it’s 29. This is the median age of population. The visitors is 5 million each year. The expected temperature is 22 Celsius daytime maximum temperature, so the weather, hopefully, it will be good in December, and the time zone is GMT plus three. So these are some major events that will be hosted in Saudi Arabia. I’ll go through them very quickly. Maybe just before the IGF will be hosting the COP16. It finishes on the 14th of December. Also, there is the Asian COP in 2027, Riyadh Expo 2030, and the World COP will be hosted in 2034. These are some information about also the hosting place, which is King International Conference Center. It will be in Riyadh. It’s in the middle of Riyadh. It’s expected to be 1,000 or 10,000 in person and 5,000 in virtual. Of course, I’m sure that everyone knows this date very well, 15th to 19th of December. There are 13 international airports. Three of them are the major ones. One is in the center, one is the eastern province, and the third one is the western province. These are some information that will be seen later how to come any way of transportation. to Riyadh. So these are some facts and numbers on digital economy. We are ranked number one in ISCWA, number two in the Digital Competitiveness Report among the G20, the third in the global, globally in the GovTech Maturity Index and so on. So the logo, I’m sure that some of you have already seen it. It is the lavender color which is the purple color and you see the triangles as well. The triangle is a shape that is traditionally used in the buildings and also the dress of people in Saudi Arabia. So the lavender color is the purple and that also reflects the innovation. And then the venue of hosting the IGF will be King Abdulaziz International Conference Center which is in Riyadh. So this center is only hosting very important and distinguished events. So this is some very high-level information about it. So like there is two main halls, 12 meeting rooms and so on. Same goes here. So you can see the purple and the light blue, these are the two main halls and there will be bilateral rooms, etc. workshops and we’re working on this with the secretary now. These are some pictures of the venue. So this is the reception and the lobby as well. These are the lounge. This is the main hall. So it’s customizable. Now we’re doing this layout customization based on the needs of the IGF. And these are the meeting rooms. So lastly the roadmap. So we have four main work streams. The first one is the strategy and registration and delivery. And the third one, the second one is marketing and communication. The third one is logistics and participation experience. And the fourth one is the session content and design. The fourth one is mainly for day zero, where we want to make it a historical day zero, since there is the DGF, we want to include it, and there will be some great participation from all local international members. These are some breakdowns of the roadmap. And these are the tracks. The parliamentary track is led by the Shura Council. The Shura Council is representing the parliament there. So it’s equivalent to the parliament. So it is also led by Dr. Latifa Abdulkareem. She’s a member of the parliament and the IPO as well. And there is also that youth track, it is led by MISC, which is a MISC foundation. It is mainly focusing on youth in Saudi Arabia. And we’re working on the engagement and also enhancing the business engagement in the IGF, with the secretary and the ICC as well, with their help and their directions. And the high-level track, as Ms. Carroll just mentioned. So we’re working also on the website, which will be launched, hopefully very soon, before the second MAG meeting. These are just snapshots of the website. So hopefully in the middle of June, it will be launched. So this is the last slide we have, which is the outreach plan. We’ll be there in ICANN as well, in Eurodig, in high-level political forum, and the Summit of the Future. So I invite you all, please, to just scan this QR code to download the brochure. Everything you saw here is there. And even more, the temperature, anything that is logistical or even information about the IJF itself. Thank you so much.

Deniz Susar:
Thank you so much. I assume this was very useful. You mentioned a few times about the temperature, but what will be the temperature during that time? Twenty-two. Twenty-two. Okay, twenty-two Celsius. Okay, that’s very good. It will be rainy, hopefully, as well. Okay, that’s very good. I will have other questions later after we hear from Anja. Anja is representing the IJF Secretariat. She will provide an update about the IJF’s intersessional work and activities that you didn’t hear from the MAC chairs and from the MAC members.

Anja Gengo:
Thank you very much, Dennis, and good morning to everyone. So, yes, indeed, the RE-AD preparations are keeping us busy, but not just that. The IJF’s mandate, as you know, is very broad, and it calls for, among other things, to establish a platform for multi-stakeholder discussion on issues pertaining to the Internet to facilitate public discourse, but specifically also to build capacity for everyone, everywhere, prioritizing developing countries and prioritizing drawing on local sources of expertise and knowledge. So, in order to reach and implement the mandated objectives, there is a set of activities within the IJF as a process that we call the intersessional work. So, the intersessional work is everything happening in between the two annual meetings. It is very much community-centered, community-driven, and thematically oriented. So, I’ll be maybe more concrete to tell you about the form of the intersessional work, focusing particularly on this year. There are a couple of platforms that serve the multi-stakeholder communities to discuss various issues. One of those we call the policy networks and best practice forums. So, the policy networks and best practice forums or BPFs are basically platforms for all stakeholders together to discuss, to unpack certain issues that the MAG every year set as a priority building on the bottom-up consultative process across the community. So through that process for this year, we have prioritized and set the intersessional work specifically these formats to unpack issues related to artificial intelligence through a policy network. So we have a, it’s called a PNAI. Also the matters related to internet fragmentation and through a third policy network matters related to meaningful access. So through this work, you can engage at any point in time with stakeholders who are already part of these networks, working on unpacking issues such as, for example, liability in terms of the accountability related to artificial intelligence, all the way to child online safety through BPF on cybersecurity and looking overall into cybersecurity practices, nature of cyber attacks and ways to combat those, to issues related to how to build unfragmented ecosystem of internet governance. There is also another form of the intersessional work, we call it the dynamic coalitions. Currently we have, the secretariat has recognized over 30 dynamic coalitions. So those are basically multistakeholder networks coming from various disciplines, various regions and countries of experts and those interested in the issues, working on unpacking a particular issue and sharing that knowledge and experience with the global community. So if you are interested, for example, in issues such as the domain name system or interplanetary internet or data for health driven technologies or public access in libraries, blockchain and so many other issues represented through the DCs, then you’re most welcome to visit the IGF website, look at the program and plan for all these dynamic coalitions. coalitions, and most importantly, consider joining these very, I would say, friendly expert networks that operate throughout the years. Unlike policy networks and BPFs, which we review every year, and the MEG then approves or establish new ones, the dynamic coalitions exist basically throughout the years, and they have certain degree of autonomy in that sense. And they, of course, are recognized by the secretariat to ensure that the whole process is done within the framework of IGF principles and values, which is that it’s open, inclusive to everyone, transparent, multi-stakeholder, bottom-up, and, of course, non-commercial. The concept of the national, regional, sub-regional, and youth IGFs is something that I think goes hand-in-hand with the IGF, because it’s been one of the strongest assets of the IGF as the ecosystem. It emerged organically at the initiative of many organized multi-stakeholder communities in various countries and regions. The IGF secretariat is entrusted to recognize the NRIs in terms of their processes and principles, frameworks that they establish at local levels, and all that resulted in today having more than 170 NRIs present in various countries and regions of the world. So just yesterday, for example, the IGF for small island developing states concluded. It was hosted partially online, partially in Antigua and Barbuda, and it was one of the most interesting and, I think, successful NRIs so far. Soon, we are preparing, for example, for the European IGF, which is EuroDIG hosted later in June, and so on. And then finally, the capacity development. So as I said, the capacity development is a mandated objective of the IGF. We are focused on working with stakeholders from around the world, first of all, responding to the demand in a bottom-up manner, but also identifying… identifying where we see the gaps and trying to close those gaps. So working with the NRIs and supporting the NRIs is one of the most probably valuable forms of the capacity development. But in addition to that, Carol mentioned two very important forms we are focused on, which is working with young people from around the world to understand what do they see as an issue with respect to digital governance, but also as opportunities. And most importantly is creating synergies between what we call the current generation of experts and leaders. So those who have decision power skills and opportunities now with those who will tomorrow become our experts and leaders. So those types of synergies are built through the youth track. We, in bottom-up manner, consult with young people from around the world every year to understand what is their focus. So for example, last year young colleagues wanted to focus on safe digital futures on matters of safety and security online. And this year we are focusing on way to govern artificial intelligence. So concretely, we are unpacking various issues of AI governance through four capacity development workshops, which are happening hybrid format at the regional IGFs. The first capacity development workshop that this core group of youth IGFs and other stakeholders who are interested to support development of this youth track will be happening at the European IGF. We will be looking at deepfakes, how are they impacting political elections, and what is the concern of young people, but what are also maybe some opportunities and benefits in that sense. And then we’re going to also be featured at the Latin American and the Caribbean IGF, the African IGF, the Asia-Pacific regional IGF happening in August, and of course fostering communication and stakeholder engagement across other regions as well. In addition, I mentioned the NRIs. The Secretariat is also oriented within its very limited capacity to support also financially some of the NRIs in developing countries. countries with small grants. With the support of the host country every year, we are providing support to stakeholders in need to come and participate in person at the annual IGF meeting, and we’re hoping that the travel support will also be made available later in the year to support participation of those stakeholders in the IGF in Riyadh.

Deniz Susar:
Thank you, Anja.

Anja Gengo:
And just the final remark. My final remark is that if you would like to be part of the intersessional work is to maybe write to the IGF secretary at igf.un.org or better yet, visit us at our booth. We are at the CICG at the first floor.

Deniz Susar:
Yeah, I think there is a lot of things going on and Anja could speak and speak about those. But the most important thing is, I think, just to reach out to them. If you want to involve in any of these, there’s lots of things going on. I would like to encourage now everyone in the room to ask questions, especially the ones that did not attend in any IGF first. If you can get three questions at a time and then I will forward them to the distinguished panel. While I look at the room. Yeah, there is one and you never attended IGF before. OK, yeah, go ahead, ask your question while others are thinking.

Audience:
Thank you so much. And your name and organization, please. My name is Ananda. I’m from Nepal and I represent the youth stakeholder. So I’m part of the youth dynamic coalition that is YCIG and I’m also organizing committee member of youth track from, I think, past three years. So I’m happy that young people are on the center of IGF. This is so exciting. And Asim has mentioned that we are trying to make the biggest day zero. So I’m very hopeful for that. And my one of the concerns from wearing a youth hat is like. young people traveling to Saudi Arabia might have some budget accommodations so that they can afford because in the major cities, like if someone wants to come to Geneva, I think it is affordable and when they young people want to go to Saudi Arabia to attend day zero for the capacity building and to raise their voices I think it is very important that their pocket fits the budget. That is one of the concerns from the young stakeholders and another thing is we are doing so much of capacity building thing in Taipei On the promotion plan. I don’t see that on the Asia Pacific, as it is happening in Asia Pacific region. I think needs more promotion on the Asia Pacific side and along with the Asia Pacific regional IGF in Taipei later in the August, there are three events happening, which is a kind of like a good gathering of people concerned with the internet governance. So I think it can be considered we are hosting as part of the Internet Society youth standing group. We are hosting a huddle for the young people who are attending those events. Thank you.

Deniz Susar:
Thank you. Any other questions? I look in the room There is one there. Yeah, please

Audience:
Hi everyone, my name is Carolina from the DNS Research Federation. I had a question about preparations for the WSIS plus 20 process beyond perhaps sort of community organized workshops on the subject. I was wondering if there is going to be perhaps any high level panels or sort of community gatherings to sort of discuss inputs, positions, contributions to the WSIS plus 20 process as a multi-stakeholder community. I think there’s obviously instead of the IGF attendees, a strong base of supporters for the work of the IGF. So I’m wondering how we can sort of leverage, you know, that sort of human power, if you will, to contribute to the WSIS plus 20 process. Thank you.

Deniz Susar:
Thank you so much. That’s a very good question. And one more. So many people in this room. Yeah.

Audience:
Good morning. My name is Shafi Shaya. I am from the RIPE NCC, regional interdistrict from the part of the technical community. First, thank you for this opportunity. I had the opportunity to attend the open consultation and the MAG meetings in Riyadh three months ago. So my thanks goes to Carol and the MAG members for their excellent work. And I would like to express my gratitude for my colleagues in Saudi, the host country, for their commitment, for their support to have a successful or one of the successful IGFs that will be organized in December. So I have only one feedback or one observation. It’s a unique opportunity to have the IGF in that region and in this region, whereas we have the majority of the countries are developing countries, and they have really challenges and they have their unique environment in developing their infrastructure. And as RIPE NCC, as technical community, we are trying to push to support to bridging the digital divide and to have a meaningful connectivity. So I would like the MAG to take in consideration these challenges for that region, because this is the opportunity to discuss it. And maybe we can help them more, as Anja said, through the capacity building initiatives that IGF is presenting. Thank you.

Deniz Susar:
Thank you so much. While the panel responds to these three questions, I think you can still think about three more questions we can extend a bit. I see there is one there, but I will just… Repeat the question, one is about budget accommodation to Asim, and the other one is about, I think Mac Chair can respond to this, about this is plus to any process. I don’t think we will have the co-facilitators by then. And also the last question about meaningful connectivity. Asim?

Asim A. Abobakr:
Yes, thank you and thank you for the question. The youth are very important for us. It is a very important segment in this event, and we’re giving it a very big attention. And MISC is one of the most significant as well, institutions in Saudi Arabia, and they are leading this program, or let’s say track. So we have received this concern before, this is not the first time, yes. So we will give some recommendations, and I don’t want to spoil it, but there might be also some discounts, etc. Everything will be on the website, and for the accommodation for the youth in particular, there will be something specifically for them, as a recommendation, and to guide them as well. Thank you.

Deniz Susar:
Thank you. And it will be for sure a youth IGF after Japan with the median age 29 in Saudi Arabia. Yeah, Carol, this is Blas.

Carol Roach:
So the MAG meets for the second open consultation at the end of this month, where we will be deciding on the different high-level leader sessions. And once we’ve decided on those and put some meat on the bones there, it will be posted on the website for you, and I’m sure GDC and WSIS Plus 20 will highlight in that.

Deniz Susar:
Yeah, I think it will be a miss if this IGF doesn’t speak about WSIS plus 20. Because it’s just coming up in January and we hope to get the co-facilitators as soon as possible. We will work on the modalities resolution for WSIS plus 20 overall review in the next weeks. I saw one hand there for the question. I don’t know if the gentleman still has a question. And we can get two more before we conclude. Yeah, please.

Audience:
Good morning. My name is Ian Duarte, I’m from the Brazilian Association of Internet Service Providers. In Brazil, small and medium enterprises play a very significant role in meaningful connectivity. And I wanted to know a little, hear a bit about more how small and medium enterprises can have their voices heard and have an active role in IGF too. Thank you.

Deniz Susar:
There is an online. Yeah. Do you want to read it? OK.

Audience:
OK, thank you. And good morning all from the Netherlands. We cannot hear you yet. Can you hear me now? Oh, do we all need to put headsets to hear? OK. Can you hear me now, Dennis? Can you please speak again? Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. OK, thank you. OK. People say they can hear you. Sorry for this inconvenience. Good morning all from the Netherlands. And I’m looking forward to be in Riyadh in December. I’ve got a very specific question and then a more generic. But I’m representing a dynamic coalition and I won’t go into that. want to promote all intersessional work and my question to the room is have you a good sense of what sort of work is going on there and what sort of recommendations come out of that and should you not have that what could the IGF do to improve messages going out of the dynamic coalitions, the intersessional work, the best practice fora and the policy networks to make sure that these messages reach stakeholders that they’re meant to reach and how can so how can the IGF approve that but the first is maybe raise hands to see how do you have a good view of what the intersessional work is actually producing for the for the IGF during the whole year. Thank you Deniz and have a good meeting.

Deniz Susar:
Yeah thank you so much. Okay we have the last question. I think he was asking if anyone in this room has a good sense of what’s going on in the intersessional work if you can raise your hand. That’s not that many I should say which is good that means we are reaching to those people who are not familiar with the IGF and the first question I will just ask Anja and then Carol to comment on it SMEs and mid yeah.

Anja Gengo:
Yes well thank you very much to a colleague from Brazil for the important question. There are plenty of opportunities and I can just say that within the IGF structure so the MAG, the leadership panel, the secretariat but also the community the importance of SMEs has been recognized for years and the issue is recognized that we are still facing issues in terms of their meaningful inclusion in the dialogue but I think we’re seeing a progress concretely this year we are discussing questions related to access for example where you know the SMEs are critically important but also that the just the concept of the discourse where the SMEs inputs are very important to us. And we’re hoping to have an organized way of channeling those inputs to that work. So there are those types of activities, such as the meaningful access, for example, but they’re also recognized in terms of our outreach and communication efforts. So we are communicating, for example, at local levels to identify these stakeholders and then to get them engaged into the discussion at the IGF various processes. So perhaps I’ll stop there. I wanna remind of the 2019 effort we did specifically for the SMEs with the government of Germany at the time, when there was almost a specific track where the SMEs had a priority to speak and then they get engaged in a dialogue with everyone. There is an output of that process on the IGF website where you can see what are their concerns and how can we address them. That is something that guides our work even almost five years after.