Study Group on the State of Internet Governance

The Internet has become an essential foundation for today's global digital social economy, and its use and way of being is deeply intertwined with everything that happens to all people around the world who use the Internet, including their lives, society, culture, economy, and diplomacy.

The state of the Internet and the debate surrounding it, so-called "Internet governance," is not only a matter of formulating rules and managing the Internet itself as an infrastructure, but also an extremely It is a broad issue. In addition, trends in the Global South, China, Russia, and other countries have come to have a significant impact in recent years on discussions related to Internet governance, which used to be dominated by perspectives from Europe and the United States.

In this workshop, we will analyze and research what kind of discussions have been held on Internet governance and the transition of stakeholders, and then discuss with experts what Internet governance should be in the future in the context of the emergence of new innovations such as generative AI and increasingly complex international relations. We will discuss with experts what Internet governance should be in the future in the midst of the emergence of new innovations such as generative AI and complex international relations.

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) hosted by the United Nations will be held in Kyoto in October 2023, the WSIS+20 discussions will begin in conjunction with the 20th anniversary in 2025, and in 2024 the United Nations will announce the Global Digital Compact (GDC) on the state of the digital society. (GDC) in 2024, it is expected that there will be active discussions on the future of the digital society and the Internet. The purpose of this study group is to contribute to the global discussion on the future of Internet governance by gathering information and disseminating opinions in these forums.

Chair:
Keisuke Kamimura
(Professor, Daito Bunka University)
Committee Member:
Yoko Nishioka
(Professor, Faculty of Global Media Studies, Komazawa University)
Atsushi Yamanaka
(Professor (specially appointed), Kobe Institute of Computing Graduate School)
Koichiro Komiyama
(Senior Researcher, The Keio Research Institute at SFC, Keio University)
Akinori Maemura
(Chief Policy Officer, Japan Network Information Center)
Yoichi Iida
(Assistant Vice Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Global Strategy Bureau)

Internet Governance Documents

1st meeting
Friday, November 10, 18:00-20:00
<For future output.
Regarding the activities of the study group, we will discuss not only issues related to the increasingly serious Global South, China, Russia, etc., but also international situations in which military conflicts are actually breaking out, not only in the UN GDC but also in a wide range of global discussion forums. The future of the IGF, which will be discussed at WSIS+20 toward 2025, was also discussed together with the importance and problems of discussion in a multi-stakeholder process, and the nature of national and regional organizations (NRIs) was also discussed.
It was also agreed that after the successful IGF2023 in Kyoto, Japan, the study group will organize a webinar in January-February to continue the discussion on the future of Internet governance with as many people as possible.February 28, 2024.(See Section 2.1.2.).

2nd meeting
Wednesday, December 27, 10:00-11:30
The secretariat requests that committee members contribute to the report of the IGF2023 meeting in Kyoto, Japan, in October 2023. It was also presented at the MAG meeting,Scheduled annual schedule of IGFs for 2024The secretariat reported on the following topics and exchanged opinions on what kind of activities the study group will carry out in the future.

3rd meeting
Thursday, January 18, 16:00-17:30
MAG meeting report that the IGF2024 dates have been set for December 15-19, 2024, and that the IGF Leadership Panel (chaired by Vint Cerf) announced in October 2023Paper entitled Internet We Want (IWW)The secretariat explained that specific details of future activities regarding the

4th meeting
Thursday, February 15, 16:00-17:30
The UN has until the end of February to do so.Request for input on WSIS+20The committee discussed the opinions to be submitted by the study group to theOpinion submitted on February 29.(See the following table). The group also exchanged views on the discussion during the February 28 webinar.

5th Meeting
Thursday, April 11, 17:00-18:30
held in Saudi Arabia at the end of February.First Public Consultation and MAG MeetingThe secretariat reported that the theme of IGF2024 and other matters were decided at the
They also exchanged views on the draft UN GDC report (zero draft) released in April and discussed proposals for participation in the event at IGF 2024 in December.

6th Meeting
Wednesday, May 22, 18:00-20:00
Explanation of the workshops and other events proposed by the study group at IGF2024 in December, which took place in Brazil at the end of April.NetMundial+10 meetingsThe committee members exchanged opinions on the first revised draft of the draft report of the UN GDC, which was released in mid-May.

7th Meeting
Wednesday, July 24, 18:00-20:00
The event took place at the end of June.IGF Open Meeting and MAG MeetingIn addition, the secretariat reported on the "IGF2024" session proposed for the APrIGF in Taiwan in August and the IGF2024 in Saudi Arabia in December, and exchanged views on the challenges and future prospects of the multi-stakeholder process, which is the theme of the proposed sessions.

8th Meeting
Friday, September 27, 18:30-20:00
From lead researcher Uemura, who participated locally in APrIGF2024 held in Taiwan in August and conducted a session on the multi-stakeholder model as a study group.reportThe participants also exchanged opinions on what direction the study group should take in its discussions toward the Japan IGF in early November and IGF 2024 in Riyadh in December.

9th Meeting
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
In addition, information and opinions were exchanged on the status of preparations for IGF2025 to be held in Norway in June and the implementation of the GDC adopted last year. The meeting concluded with a review of the discussions and activities of the previous eight meetings and an exchange of opinions on future issues to be discussed. The report of this study group is available athere.