Session
Organizer 1: Stuart Crampton, U.S. Department of State
Organizer 2: Eileen Donahoe, U.S. Department of State
Organizer 3: Cari McCachren-Shah, 🔒U.S. Department of State
Speaker 1: Jason Pielemeier, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Jennifer Bachus, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Nashilongo Gervasius, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 4: Scott Campbell, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization
Speaker 5: Susan Mwape, Civil Society, Africa Group
Robert Opp, Intergovernmental Organization
Cari McCachren-Shah, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Stuart Crampton, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: The roundtable or theater seating would be ideal for this panel of speakers since it aims to foster collaborative discussion and relationship building. The organizers intend to include five other speakers, including stakeholders from a government from the Global South, a UN agency, the private sector, and two civil society organizations. The roundtable layout seems best suited for such presentations and discussions. The organizers are seeking a 90-minute session to be able to fully explore the issues and allow for questions, but we are willing to abridge the session to 60 minutes if the MAG or IGF Secretariat finds it necessary. A minimum of 30 minutes will be allotted for questions. In addition, the organizers will strive prior to the workshop to seek written input, questions, and recommendations from stakeholders.
A. How and why is digital solidarity central to multistakeholder tech governance and achieving a more secure, resilient, and prosperous digital future? B. What are the most important opportunities and practical tools we should pursue or develop to operationalize and advance the application of digital solidarity more effectively in 2025? C. What are practical next steps to improve our collaboration in pursuit of digital solidarity and what should we be doing more to collaboratively bolster rights-based capacity building to expedite progress on the SDGs?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Insights shared by stakeholders related to their efforts to advance digital solidarity will inform a solutions-based discussion on the primary challenges facing the achievement of digital solidarity and rights-based capacity building to expedite progress on the SDGs. Through networking and a better understanding of the distinct roles that governments, UN agencies, the private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders have to play in rights-based capacity building efforts that use emerging technologies, this Workshop will seek to build momentum and operationalize digital solidarity. The participants and attendees will also benefit from the Workshop's efforts to develop a digital solidarity toolkit for the practical application of rights-based best practices, including risk assessment and mitigation measures prevent and address misuse of emerging technologies.
Description:
The session will strive to share perspectives, policy approaches, and best practices to advance digital solidarity – a willingness to work together on shared goals, provide mutual support, and help partners build capacity through the use of emerging technologies in rights-respecting ways. The session aims to answer the question of how digital solidarity is central to multistakeholder Internet governance and policy-shaping processes, and to the IGF theme of “Advancing human rights and inclusion in the digital age”. The session will strive to advance an affirmative, rights-respecting agenda for a more secure, resilient, and prosperous digital future, including through expediting progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through innovation, skills building, and digital literacy. It will include discussion of improving stakeholder collaboration, as well as the use of existing and development of new practical tools to operationalize digital solidarity. It will build on the General Assembly’s historic adoption-by consensus in March of resolution A/RES/78/265, which defined a global consensus on artificial intelligence (AI) to support sustainable development. It will also build on the momentum of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI and its implementation. The session will take into account important recent developments relevant to digital solidarity, including the Global Digital Compact, the NETMundial+10 Multistakeholder Statement on Strengthening Internet Governance and Digital Policy Processes, and the Interim Report of the multistakeholder effort on Digital Public Infrastructure Safeguards Initiative, jointly led by the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology and the United Nations Development Programme. The session will aim to advance best practices and tools for the practical implementation of commitments by stakeholders to advance digital solidarity in the design and implementation of sustainable development-related infrastructure and capacity building efforts that incorporate or involve emerging technologies, including AI, and data collection.
Background document: United States International Cyberspace & Digital Policy Strategy
Expected outcomes include development of a toolkit to advance best practices in advancing digital solidarity and rights-respecting capacity building. Also, to help ensure strong participation, collaboration, and impact, the organizers will engage a select number of stakeholders from the Global South to ensure meaningful participation in this Workshop. The organizers will invite a diverse array of civil society, private sector, and government actors from the Global South to participate in at least two virtual roundtables or workshops, hosted by the U.S. Department of State to feed into and build off this IGF Workshop, including to facilitate follow-up afterward. The follow-on virtual roundtable/s or in-person workshop/s will discuss the Workshop report resulting from the IGF Workshop, and will aim to advance efforts to develop a toolkit to operationalize digital solidarity. This follow-up effort will foster networking, coalition building, and capacity building among stakeholders to advance digital solidarity and capacity building.
Hybrid Format: The in-person and remote moderator will meet before the IGF2024 to rehearse their approach to facilitating interaction between speakers and attendees. Based upon the assumption of stable connectivity at the IGF venue, as well as from remote participants, both the Workshop agenda and the moderator will require speaker interventions, as well as attendee interventions, to alternate between “in-person” and “remote,” in order to promote a seamless hybrid environment for all participating. The organizers will ensure that the remote and in-person moderators make maximum use of all features of whichever platform is provided by the IGF2024, to ensure participation and interaction during the session is maximized. We do not anticipate at this stage using multiple tools and platforms, as doing so may actually dilute interaction and participation during the session. However, we are open to suggestions from the MAG or IGF Secretariat.