Side Event at the UN Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Forum
IGF 2025 on “Building Digital Governance Together”: The road to WSIS+20 and beyond
Tuesday 6 May 2025 | 13:15-14:45 EST
The 20th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will take place from 23 to 27 June 2025 in Lillestrøm, Norway, under the overarching theme, “Building Digital Governance Together.” As an outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the 20th anniversary-edition of the IGF is tied to the General Assembly’s twenty-year WSIS Review (WSIS+20) and will host related discussions as the review gets underway this year.
The IGF has served for nearly two decades as a global multistakeholder platform for open, inclusive dialogue on Internet and digital policy issues. The 2025 meeting not only marks the Forum’s twentieth anniversary but also provides a timely opportunity to reflect on the WSIS record and use the IGF’s multistakeholder, collective wisdom to set the direction for the WSIS+20 process.
Purpose of the Side Event
This side event will offer a strategic preview of IGF 2025, its thematic vision, and the unique opportunity it presents to advance digital governance dialogue in light of WSIS+20.
It will:
- Highlight the IGF 2025 programme and its alignment with urgent digital priorities, including human-centric digital transformation, trust, and responsible innovation.
- Emphasize the importance of inclusive, diverse multistakeholder participation, particularly in an era of accelerated technological change and increasingly complex policy challenges.
- Explore how WSIS+20 will be featured within IGF 2025, and what stakeholders can expect from this year's meeting as a venue for reflecting on the WSIS legacy and envisioning its future.
- Discuss the potential for the IGF post-2025 to support a renewed, forward-looking WSIS framework that meets today’s digital realities – including through strengthened institutional linkages and evolving modalities of cooperation.
Proposed Format and Participants
The event will be structured as a high-level moderated dialogue, featuring (TBC):
Representatives of the IGF 2025 Host country and UN DESA/ UN IGF
- H.E. Ms. Merete Fjeld Brattested, Permnanent Representative of Norway to the UN
- Ms. Bjørg Sandkjær - Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)
- Mr. Vint Cerf, Chair, IGF Leadership Panel
Member States leading or closely engaged in the WSIS+20 review process
- H.E. Mr. Erastus Ekitela Lokaale, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the UN, WSIS+20 Co-facilitator
- H.E. Mr. Rytis Paulauskas, Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the UN, WSIS+20 Co-facilitator
Registration
Those not already in possession of a UN Grounds Pass (blue badge) for UNHQ, New York, must register themselves for a Special Event Ticket by 18 April: https://indico.un.org/event/1016492/