IGF 2023 Open Forum #138 Regional perspectives on digital governance

In the context of the UN Secretary General’s recent efforts in the field of digital governance, a regional perspective on digital governance challenges and opportunities and challenges will be raised in this open forum. The efforts of the UN Regional Commissions to address SDGs, and specifically those that touch upon digital governance issues, will be elaborated upon in this session. During this session, we invite discussion around how UN regional commissions and other regional actors can contribute toward managing this global public good. Another crucial topic we will cover in the session will examine the ways in which regional actors can mitigate the current shift in discourse and policy toward national reactions (so-called ‘digital sovereignty’). We also aim to reflect upon the differences between global discourses on cooperation and practical implementation at various levels from local to regional and beyond.

We will address three key questions in our open forum:

1. How can UN regional commissions and other regional actors contribute toward managing this global public good?
2. What ways do regional actors mitigate the current shift in discourse and policy toward national reactions (so-called ‘digital sovereignty’)?
3. What differences exist between global discourses on cooperation and practical implementation at various levels from local to regional and beyond?

We aim to facilitate interaction between onsite and online participants by inviting UN Regional Commissions who may not be physically present in Kyoto to also address the event. We shall also field questions from both the online and onsite audiences through our moderators, who are active participants in the network.