RIA had a strong presence at the 15 annual Internet Governance Forum, (IGF 2020), hosted by the United Nations and held online from 9-17 November. IGF 2020 discussed four main thematic tracks, Data, Environment, Inclusion and Trust, under the overarching theme ‘Internet for human resilience and solidarity’.
RIA’s staff participated in a variety of events, including high-level panels and workshops. Watch our colleagues in action in the videos below and find links to summaries of each session they participated in.
Alison Gillwald panellist in IGF 2020 Main Session on Trust
“It is not only governments but also big monopoly platforms that are making data artificially scarce and this goes to the incredible need for countries to be able to co-operate globally,” Alison Gillwald said at the IGF 2020 Main Session on Trust. Read a summary of the main session on trust and watch a recording of the entire discussion below.
Gabriella Razzano moderates IGF 2020 Main Session on Data
Gabriella Razzano moderated the Main Session on DATA, noting “that the level of efficiency of data-driven technologies and policy solutions to fight COVID-19 differs from country to country”. Read a summary of the main session on data and watch a recording of the entire discussion below.
Enrico Calandro participates in IGF 2020 High-Level Leaders Track on Security
Enrico Calandro called for policymakers to create regulations that are end-user centric at the IGF 2020 High-Level Leaders Track: Security. Read a summary of the session and watch the recording of the entire discussion below.
Alison Gillwald participates in IGF 2020 Workshop: Ensuring Trusted Data Sharing for Monitoring the SDGs
“Donor funding, that has historically been allocated to surveys for public statistics is now used for AI and big data, illustrating the difficulties developing countries face in generating sufficient funding to combine traditional and emerging methods of statistics,” Alison Gillwald said at the IGF2020 workshop. Ensuring Trusted Data Sharing for Monitoring the SDGs. Read a summary of the workshop and watch a recording of the entire discussion below.
Senka Hadzic participates in IGF 2020 session on Community Networks at Times of Crises and Pandemics
This session was largely based on the report, The Value of Internet Openness in Times of Crisis, which is the official outcome of the Coalitions on Net Neutrality and on Community Connectivity of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum. Senka Hadzic talked about digital inequality and the release of temporary spectrum in South Africa in response to the COVID-19 lockdown. Read a transcript of the session and watch a recording of the entire session below.
Alison Gillwald participates in IGF 2020 Workshop, Keeping us together: Internet infrastructure in emergencies
“The progress that has been made in natural disaster mitigation is impressive but if we are talking about critical infrastructure as the assets that are necessary for the functioning of economy and society, then the pandemic present different problems from a policy point of view… if we are going to prepare the next pandemic, we need to deal with some they systemic factors of digital inequality and exclusion that prevents people mitigate the effects of lockdowns and are visible in digital data being used for public health processes,” Alison Gillwald told this IGF workshop on the role of Internet infrastructure in emergencies. Read a summary of the workshop and watch a recording of the entire discussion below.
