IGF Parliamentary Track – Session 1

Summary

This discussion focused on two key UN-led processes on digital cooperation and governance: the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Global Digital Compact (GDC). The speakers highlighted the ongoing challenges in achieving digital inclusion and addressing the digital divide, even 20 years after WSIS. They emphasized the need to connect the remaining one-third of the global population to the internet and ensure meaningful, affordable access.

The Global Digital Compact was presented as a refresh of the WSIS agenda, addressing more recent issues such as artificial intelligence, data governance, and the inclusive digital economy. The speakers stressed the interconnectedness of these issues and the importance of a holistic approach to digital policy.

A significant portion of the discussion centered on the role of parliamentarians in these processes. Participants expressed concern about the disconnect between executives and parliaments in many countries regarding digital policy. They called for greater inclusion of parliamentarians in UN-led processes and more capacity building to help them understand and contribute to global digital agendas.

The speakers and audience members suggested several ways to improve engagement, including creating toolkits for mapping GDC priorities at the local level, organizing training sessions for parliamentarians, and establishing regional parliamentary organizations focused on digital issues. The importance of translating global frameworks into local priorities and language was also emphasized.

The discussion concluded with a call for greater inclusion, better implementation of global agreements at national and local levels, and increased capacity building and awareness-raising efforts for parliamentarians on digital governance issues.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and its upcoming 20-year review in 2025

– The Global Digital Compact (GDC) and its five pillars for digital cooperation

– The need for greater inclusion of parliamentarians in UN digital governance processes

– Challenges in implementing global digital agendas at national levels

– The importance of capacity building and awareness raising for parliamentarians on digital issues

Overall purpose:

The discussion aimed to inform parliamentarians about key UN-led digital cooperation processes (WSIS and GDC) and explore how parliamentarians can contribute to and benefit from these global frameworks.

Tone:

The tone was largely informative and collaborative, with speakers providing overviews of UN processes and parliamentarians offering constructive feedback. There was a shift towards more urgency and calls for action when discussing the need for greater parliamentary involvement and implementation of global agendas.

Speakers

– Sorina Teleanu: Moderator, author of book on Global Digital Compact

– Muhammadou M.O. Kah: Ambassador of Gambia to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to UN Organizations in Geneva, Chairman of the Commission for Science and Technology for Development

– Isabel de Sola: Representative from the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology

– Audience: Various parliamentarians and attendees who asked questions

Additional speakers:

– Doreen Bogdan-Martin: Secretary General of ITU (mentioned but not present)

The Digital Cooperation and Governance Discussion: A Comprehensive Overview

This discussion focused on two key UN-led processes on digital cooperation and governance: the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Global Digital Compact (GDC). The speakers highlighted ongoing challenges in achieving digital inclusion and addressing the digital divide, even 20 years after WSIS. They emphasized the urgent need to connect the remaining one-third of the global population to the internet and ensure meaningful, affordable access.

1. UN-led Processes on Digital Cooperation and Governance

Ambassador Muhammadou M.O. Kah highlighted the upcoming WSIS review process scheduled for 2025. He explained that this review would assess progress made since 2005, identify challenges, and set new targets for the next decade. The review will focus on areas such as infrastructure development, capacity building, and the application of ICTs for sustainable development.

Isabel de Sola from the UN Secretary General’s Office discussed the recently adopted Global Digital Compact (GDC). She described the GDC as a “refresh” of the WSIS agenda, addressing more recent issues such as artificial intelligence, data governance, and the inclusive digital economy. De Sola explained that the GDC has five pillars:

1. Connect all people to the internet

2. Avoid internet fragmentation

3. Protect human rights online

4. Ensure accountability for discrimination and misleading content

5. Promote digital cooperation

These pillars tie together various issues in a way that is “fit for purpose” for the current digital landscape.

2. Persistent Digital Divides and Inequalities

A significant portion of the discussion focused on the ongoing challenges of digital divides and inequalities. Ambassador Kah noted that digital divides exacerbate existing inequalities, while de Sola pointed out that one-third of the global population still lacks internet connectivity. Both speakers stressed the urgent need for meaningful and affordable connectivity to address these persistent issues.

Kah provided a balanced perspective on the transformative power of digital technologies, stating, “Digital technologies are transforming our world at a remarkable pace… They are driving economic growth, helping in the fight against poverty, and making information more accessible than ever before.” However, he also emphasized the need to confront the persistent digital divide, echoing concerns raised by the ITU Secretary General in an earlier session.

3. Role of Parliamentarians in Digital Governance

A significant focus of the discussion was the role of parliamentarians in digital governance processes. Sorina Teleanu, the moderator, highlighted the importance of parliamentarians in exercising control over ministries. De Sola suggested several ways parliamentarians could contribute to the implementation of the GDC and WSIS:

– Convening different sectors at the national level for conversations on important digital policy issues

– Translating global frameworks into national legislation

– Ensuring budget allocations for digital initiatives

– Raising awareness about digital issues among constituents

However, audience members expressed concern about the disconnect between executives and parliaments in many countries regarding digital policy. One audience member stated, “We are not included in such things. So, we cannot actually do the effect or the required effect if we’re not included or we don’t know about it.” This comment shifted the discussion towards the need for greater inclusion of parliamentarians in UN-led processes and more capacity building to help them understand and contribute to global digital agendas.

4. Improving Implementation of Global Frameworks

The discussion concluded with a focus on how to improve the implementation of global frameworks at national and local levels. Audience members suggested several ways to enhance engagement, including:

– Creating toolkits for mapping GDC priorities at the local level

– Organizing training sessions for parliamentarians

– Establishing regional parliamentary organizations focused on digital issues

An audience member from Argentina proposed, “Having a toolkit on what you mentioned about a map of the GDC priorities, like for the government, for the parliamentarians, like the countries, it would be really useful to have a toolkit on, for instance, what each point means or how those points are in reality.”

Ambassador Kah concluded by emphasizing the interplay between WSIS and GDC, stating that parliamentarians have a crucial role in bridging these global frameworks with national priorities and implementation.

5. Technical Challenges and Resources

Throughout the session, there were recurring technical difficulties, highlighting the very real challenges of digital connectivity even in high-level discussions. Despite these issues, the speakers and audience members persevered, demonstrating their commitment to the topic.

Sorina Teleanu mentioned her book on digital policy for parliamentarians as a valuable resource for those seeking to deepen their understanding of these issues.

Conclusion

The discussion underscored the interconnectedness of various digital governance issues and the importance of a holistic approach to digital policy. It revealed areas requiring urgent attention, such as closing persistent digital divides and increasing parliamentarian involvement in UN processes. The overall tone of the discussion was informative and collaborative, with a strong emphasis on the need for action in translating global frameworks into local realities.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve rapidly, this discussion highlighted the ongoing need for inclusive, adaptive, and collaborative approaches to digital cooperation and governance at both global and local levels. The key takeaway was a call to action for parliamentarians to play a more active role in shaping and implementing digital policies, bridging the gap between global frameworks and national priorities.

Sorina Teleanu: And hopefully we do have more of a dialogue and less of us speaking from this part of the room. So the plan for these 45 minutes is to look a bit at two key UN-led processes on digital cooperation, probably also digital governance. And these are WSIS, and I’m going to ask a question now. Allow me to do that, please. How many of you have been familiar with this acronym WSIS before coming to this session? One, two, OK, three, four. OK, it’s slightly better than I expected. Thank you for that. So the first part of the session will be about that. Looking some 20 years back at the World Summit on the Information Society, which is something that happened in between 2003 and 2005, when UN member states and other stakeholders came together and they defined a vision for a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society. The IGF itself, where you are today, is one of the key outcomes of WSIS, and I’m pretty sure you will be hearing throughout the week about other WSIS-related elements, like the WSIS Action Lines and the Tunis Agenda. You’ve heard earlier from ITU about the WSIS Forum. And another thing you will most likely hear about is that next year, we will be marking 20 years since the adoption of the final WSIS outcome documents. And there will be a review process at the UN level, where we will be looking at the extent to which WSIS Action Lines have been implemented around digital divide, connectivity, safety and security, and a bunch of other topics that were discussed back then, what we have not maybe managed to achieve and what to do next. And for this, we have with us an organization which plays a very important role in follow-up on WSIS, the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, and Ambassador Muhammadou M.O. Kah is with us online, and he will be telling us a bit more about WSIS and the review next week. And then we’ll talk about something I’m pretty sure you have at least heard. heard once about, and this is the Global Digital Compact, which UN member states have recently adopted in the context of the science of the future in New York. It looks at more recent, probably, we can frame it like that, developments in digital governance, like artificial intelligence and data governance, and a few other topics, seeing maybe a bit how to build on WSIS moving forward in terms of how do we achieve the inclusive, informed digital future we all might want, and I’m going to read that because it’s at the core of the Global Digital Compact, so the goal is to have an inclusive, open, sustainable, fair, safe, and secure digital future for all. So quite a lot of goals for us moving forward. There is an ongoing work on defining the next steps in implementation of the GDC and follow-up, and Isabel will be telling us a bit more about that. Isabel works with the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology, and she will be telling us more about the process, and the plan is to also look a bit at the interplay between these two, WSIS and the GDC, and also the role of parliaments, how you, as members of parliaments, can actually contribute to these two processes and how they can actually also inform your work. I want to start with my long introduction and move to online, give the floor to Ambassador Kach to tell us a bit about WSIS, what we have managed to achieve over the past 20 years, maybe what we haven’t really managed and where more efforts are needed, and how do you see the contribution of parliaments to these processes? Ambassador Kach, if you can hear us, please go ahead. Or maybe not.

Muhammadou M.O. Kah: Can you hear me? Good afternoon. Yes, we can. Please go ahead. I will say As-salamu alaykum to all the participants in the audience. And a very good morning or good afternoon, I don’t know what time is it in Riyadh. My name is Ambassador Professor Muhammadou M.O. Kah, the Gambian Ambassador to Switzerland and the Permanent Representative to the UN Organizations at Geneva, WTO, and all other international organizations in Switzerland, and importantly, the Chairman of the Commission for Science and Technology for Development. It is indeed an honor to join you remotely. I wish I was there physically, but due to unavoidable conflicts I was unable to do so. I want to thank the leadership of the IGF and the organizers and our host, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for facilitating this very important forum and particularly the session with the parliamentarians. Digital technologies are transforming our world at a remarkable pace, at a very remarkable pace. They are driving economic growth, helping in the fight against poverty, and making information more accessible than ever before. For instance, digital platforms now enable small and medium-sized enterprises to reach global markets. Digital access is very important. The Internet of Things is streamlining supply chains and reducing the cost of trade. Yet as we celebrate these achievements, we must also confront the persistent digital divide as wonderfully articulated by our Secretary General of the ITU in the earlier session. These gaps are not only between countries, but also within them, between the urban and our rural communities. communities, those with access to education, and those without access to education, and across genders. While some regions enjoy very fast connectivity and cutting edge innovations, others struggle to even get online. This discrepancy can limit opportunities in education, in health care, and remote work, and as Doreen had mentioned in the last session, increasingly, to yield its impact to accelerate and smarten agriculture to enhance agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers. Widening socioeconomic disparities and excluding entire groups from the entire benefits derived from the digital age. If left unaddressed, digital divides will translate into broader development divides. People who cannot update their skills will find themselves sidelined in the job markets. Education systems worldwide are struggling to provide the digital literacy needed for the 21st century, risking a future in which entire generations are left behind. For countries already lagging, the advent of technologies like artificial intelligence raises the stakes even higher without rapid progress. We run a risk of another divide, which is the AI divide. They risk missing out on economic growth and the social benefits that came with technological progress. With new technologies. While new technologies can certainly improve lives, they are also vulnerable to misuse. Criminals can exploit digital platforms to undermine public trust. Many worry about how artificial intelligence might disrupt employments or enable invasive surveillance by business, governments, or other organizations. There is growing concern that if humans lose control over critical decisions in governance or the economy, AI could present grave long-term threats. The uneven adoption of AI and the concentration of expertise in a few regions may further deepen global inequalities. Digital platforms have enriched our online environments by broadening access to goods, services, and information. Yet their content algorithms raise questions about what information is prioritized. In an era of rising information and deliberate disinformation, users struggle to discern what is accurate. Market dominance by a handful of major platforms intensifies these challenges, influencing what people see and how they engage online. As a result, interest in platform regulation through self-regulation or legislation is growing. Some platform businesses are themselves calling for clearer rules, especially as AI technologies make manipulation, fraud, and election interference easier. Any regulatory framework must respect AI rules. national sovereignty, and uphold fundamental human rights. We have been grappling with these issues for nearly two decades. The World Summit on Information Society wishes to harness digital technologies to meet global challenges and build an inclusive, people-centered, and development-oriented information society. WSIS established guiding principles and action plans for digital governments, emphasized multistakeholder cooperation through forums like this one, the Internet Governance Forum. Since then, digitalization has permeated almost every aspect of life. Many of the hopes expressed at WSIS have materialized. Advances, particularly in artificial intelligence, now suggest that digitalization can help us meet pressing sustainable development goals. But these advances highlight our responsibility to ensure that inclusion and equality remained front and center. Today, one third of the global population still does not use the internet. And many struggle with very slow connectivity, very high cost, or kills. These inequalities reflect and exacerbate existing divisions by gender, by geography, and socioeconomic status. Excellencies and delegates, we must also confront the unintended consequences. consequences of digitalization. Cybersecurity threats, from attacks on public utilities to interference in democratic processes, are very real. Misinformation can erode trust and harm social cohesion. The growing environment footprint of digital infrastructure demands urgent attention. Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, introduce deep uncertainties about the future governance, economic norms, and social life. All of these digital challenges and opportunities exist in a wider global context. We have faced major economic shocks, a devastating pandemic, intensifying climate change, and rising geopolitical tensions. These factors slow progress towards the SDGs. Now is the time to recommit to international development targets and consider how digital technologies can help us recover lost ground and build a more equitable future. In 2025, the United Nations General Assembly will review the outcomes of WSIS after 20 years. This review is a vital opportunity to gauge progress, identify what remains to be done, and chart a path forward. We must ask how digital technologies can help us achieve current policy goals and realize our aspirations for the future. future. We must also plan to avoid or mitigate foreseeable risks. This effort calls for the input of everyone, international organizations, governments, the private sector, academia, technical communities, civil society, and experts, and particularly parliamentarians. That the information society continues to evolve in ways that serve everyone’s best interests, expanding opportunities, protecting rights, and empowering all peoples to thrive in the digital age. We thank you for putting this important platform on digital cooperation at the United Nations, at the heart of the engagements with parliamentarians.

Sorina Teleanu: Speaking of digital, we have digital challenges here as well. Exactly, we see it hands on. Thank you so much, Ambassador Kah, you got interrupted towards the end, but thank you so much for mapping the challenges we still have in front of us today when we talk about digital cooperation and digital governance. If I were to summarize in maybe one sentence and a half the long and very comprehensive introduction from Ambassador Khaq, I would say next year is going to be very important at the UN level discussing digital cooperation, digital governance. Some of the issues we discussed 20 years ago are still pretty much in focus. Digital divide is still a challenge. We have AI in front of us. We even heard about quantum computing and a few other newer technologies. My kind request to you as parliament, as member of parliament is to try to exercise one important tool you have, and that’s parliamentary control. So I would strongly encourage you to reach out to your ministries of foreign affairs, which should be the ones actually being part of this process at the UN level in New York, and encourage them to be actually meaningfully contributing to this review and to the discussion on the issue that Ambassador Kah has been mentioning.

Muhammadou M.O. Kah: I got disconnected. I’m not sure whether you had my whole statement or it disappeared midway.

Sorina Teleanu: That’s also funny, it’s from Geneva, which you expect it’s pretty well connected, right? No, thank you, Ambassador Kah. We actually got the final part of your message quite well, and we were just encouraging member of parliaments to encourage ministries of foreign affairs at national level to be part of the review process in New York next year, as it will be happening at the General Assembly level, and maybe also contribute to the process at the CSED in Geneva through your missions there. I’m going to move on to Isabel, Isabel de Sola Criado, again from the office of the UN Tech Envoy, who will be telling us a bit more about the other key topic of today, which is the Global Digital Compact. Isabel, just a few words about the highlights of the GDC, and then how do you see parliaments contributing to implementation, and maybe how the GDC itself can inform the work of parliaments on digital issues.

Isabel de Sola: Thank you. Sure, thank you so much, Sorina. It’s a pleasure to be here. I represent the office of the Envoy on Technology, which is a small UN office that was created only two, three years ago, and it has the purpose of bringing together the different UN agencies and offices into one coherent digital transformation umbrella. It’s a pleasure to be back in Riyadh. I have to say I was here in May when it was quite hot, and I didn’t bring the right clothes now for this trip, but it’s really a pleasure and an honor to be speaking with you today. So I will say a few words. What are the highlights of the Global Digital Compact? This compact was negotiated during two years, and it was approved at the Summit of the Future in New York. It has five pillars, and it ties together the issues in a way that is fit for purpose. It gives a sort of refresh to the agenda of the World Summit on the Information Society, which was approved 20 years ago. And the refresh was important, but it doesn’t do away with the whisses. In a sense, it’s like the icing on a big cake. And what it brings is some more modern or more pressing topics that our societies have been grappling with for the past five, ten years, starting with the connectivity divide. So in the previous session, my colleague Doreen Bogdan-Martin spoke to the point that 20 years later, we still have one-third of the world to connect, and we need to make that connection meaningful and affordable. And behind it, we need to have digital skills. All of these topics were addressed in the WSIS, and what the Global Digital Compact does is reprioritize them. As Ambassador Kha said, now is the time to reprioritize old and new issues. A second pillar of the GDC is the inclusive digital economy. So 20 years ago, we spoke about connecting small and medium-sized enterprises to the internet so that they could have access to knowledge and perhaps sell their services and goods online. And that objective and aspiration is still valid today. But what we know now, 20 years later, is that the digital economy is quite complex. So there are questions of important concentrations of power and resources in the digital economy. We know that SMEs need to have the digital literacy, but also the data and the access to infrastructure in order to participate fully. And so we’ve tied together in the GDC some of these new topics of the digital economy and added the word inclusive to reprioritize or bring attention to the aspiration that we want the digital economy to really benefit as many businesses as possible. A third pillar of the GDC is the safety and security online and promotion and respect of human rights. Going back to the WSIS 20 years ago, we spoke about the ethics of the digital world and the digital transformation. And today, after 20 years, there’s a tremendous agenda in this space. It’s about keeping women, children, and girls safe online. It’s about the diversity of content and languages online. It’s about misinformation and disinformation, a host of issues that have cropped up as the technology evolved. And two more pillars. The fourth is data governance. It’s about data that we need to drive development on the SDGs, but it’s also about data interoperability and governance. And the last pillar is artificial intelligence, which Ambassador Kha spoke to so articulately, so I won’t go into details. I think what’s important from your roles as parliamentarians is to understand that these five pillars work together as you’re looking at your own national level policies, for example, on data governance. To understand that data governance is going to be at the heart of AI development. We can’t have ethical, responsible AI that serves our societies if the data isn’t governed properly. Or we can’t have flourishing small and medium-sized enterprises. enterprises operating online if they don’t yet have the connectivity and the digital skills that they need in order to make the most out of the Internet. And I could go on and on about these connections going back and forth. I think in the WSIS when we were looking at access to information, that was the concern at the time 20 years ago. We wanted to connect our society so that people could have more knowledge, be empowered by that knowledge. And the example of agricultural workers in the field that receive information on prices in the markets in New York, for example, 20 years ago, we wanted to promote this access to knowledge. But today, we also want to make sure and protect our citizens from disinformation or to address disinformation in such a way that it doesn’t cause widespread harm, fear in our societies. So this is an ambitious agenda and your role is obviously critical. I wanted to make a couple of suggestions of concretely what that could be like. So Reena mentioned the parliamentary control of how the Ministries of Foreign Affairs participate. I think also that Houses of Parliament are wonderful conveners. So to bring together the different sectors in your national context for conversations on the important policy that can be driven from parliaments on these five pillars, on closing the digital divide, on protecting us from misinformation, or on applying AI in schools, for example. Hold hearings, hold briefings, bring together the local knowledge on these important topics to inform yourselves, but I think also to build those local and national networks that can drive these agendas going forward. A second task would be to, in partnership with the sectors locally, map out some of the GDC priorities and then decide which ones are the most relevant for your societies. So the GDC has 60 or so paragraphs where member states are enunciating their ambitions. They say, we as member states will do this and that. But perhaps there’s a group of three or five or 12 of those enunciations that speak the most to the priorities in your countries. And then from parliament, you can influence how government responds to these priorities and how they’re taken forward, perhaps at the international level. And I think a last point, homework for all of us, is to make sure to raise up your national priorities in the reverse sense. So at times, the global international bureaucracy is very enthusiastic about these wonderful agendas, but they should be informed, the GDC should be informed by progress and challenges at the local level. So the more that we hear from the countries of what is working, not working, what type of language makes sense, what are some of the pressing… concerns, the better that the international system can respond to your needs and concerns. I was in a session just a moment ago where a civil society friend, in a loving way, she said, international bureaucracy, please stop dumping on us these global agendas. Help us rather to implement them at the national level. And I take this point back with me to Geneva and to New York, that we will give more thought about how we can work closely with local actors, parliamentarians, for example, to ensure that these wonderful global agendas are realistic and that they can be implemented and to support you in that process. So thank you very much for the opportunity to be here and looking forward to your questions.

Sorina Teleanu: Thank you also, Isabel. If I were to say one key word after your intervention, I think that would be implementation. So we have the Global Digital Compact, but what next, right? How do we move into putting all those commitments into practice? And also what I really like about the Global Digital Compact is that there are also calls on the private sector. We talk a lot about the responsibility of other actors beyond governments and beyond parliaments. If you look at the Global Digital Compact, there are quite a lot of calls on, we want the private sector to do a bit more to address some of the challenges that have been discussed here today. So that’s also something you could be looking into. But yes, let’s see how we can take those commitments and those calls on the private sector and put them into practice. And also going back to WSIS 20 years ago, how we can still build on those action lines and see what we have not really managed to achieve. We’re kind of running out of time, so I’m trying to also have a bit of a discussion. Any questions, any reflections, any suggestions you would like to add to what you have heard? And maybe also looking forward again into implementation of these two global frameworks on digital governance and digital cooperation. I’m hoping for, thank you.

Audience: Thank you very much for the panel. Actually, I find myself here, I want to back up my colleague who asked for including the parliamentarians, not just the executives, because if you’re talking about the review for WSIS process, for the review for anything, we are not included in such things. So, we cannot actually do the effect or the required effect if we’re not included or we don’t know about it. We just know from some of the civil society we are connected with, and it’s not right. We are not holding a multi-stakeholder process as it should be in such things. Thank you.

Sorina Teleanu: Thank you also. Let’s take one more question from the back.

Audience: Thank you very much for the wonderful information. In fact, I just want to solidify what my colleague actually has said, that there’s a disconnect in many countries between the executive and the parliament. And I think what we are doing right now with the UN IGF creating the track, I think it’s going to help to close the gap. You see, most parliamentarians across the world, not only Africa, but across the world, if you ask them about WSIS, they will tell you they have no idea what it is. No idea. And if you look at the Global Digital Compact as well, just a few weeks ago I was discussing with my own parliament in South Africa. And most of them are saying, what exactly is that? So I have to actually see at the end of the Global Digital Compact for them to actually know. And I would suggest perhaps if there’s any other way, like ITU has done with the West African MPs last week, where they organized a training specifically for the MPs in West Africa. Honorable from Niger was there, I was also attending. Maybe that would also help to end, you know, for members to understand better. Because, you know, the GDC is too big. It’s a very big document, but you just. take a component meant only for the members of parliament where you will need their input or where you will need their activity. Because at the end of the day, it’s members of parliament that will approve budgets. So if the minister comes in and brings in a budget, which is gonna actually help to align with all these issues, if they do not understand, they will not approve. And then we means we will have a very long time before we can reach where we need to. And I think bringing the members of parliament on board, for them to understand their roles and responsibilities, it’s gonna help a lot to close that gap. So that when the executive come, fine. If they don’t come, also we wait for them. When they come, we have our understanding and we can work together. Thank you.

Sorina Teleanu: Thank you as well. We had more hands, right?

Audience: Here, thank you so much. My name is Agustina, I’m from Argentina and I work at the chamber of deputies in Argentina. And I wanna follow up a little bit about what the parliamentarian said. I think it would be really useful. I don’t know if that’s something that you can do or maybe, I don’t know, maybe the idea like the parliamentary track or we can all contribute, but having a toolkit on what you mentioned about a map of the GDC priorities, like for the government, for the parliamentarians, like the countries, it would be really useful to have a toolkit on, for instance, what each point means or how those points are in reality, you know, like how you can transform, I don’t know, what safety and security online means and see like to be really explained. So parliamentarians could say like, okay, so these are our priorities, this is the toolkit and we can like put, this is what we want or what we need. I think that would be really useful. And even with that, you can, if we can send that to you, like the parliamentarians can send that to you, you can, I don’t know, maybe have different countries who have the same necessities. you can put them all together also to work, I don’t know, it’s just some ideas.

Sorina Teleanu: Thank you. I don’t see any more hands, so I’m going to turn back to Ambassador Kah and Isabel, but before that, I think I’m seeing two key issues here. One is capacity building for parliaments, raising more awareness, making parliaments across the world more aware of what’s going on at the global level, at the UN level, and how they can contribute. And the second angle is to look at the UN processes themselves and see how they can be more inclusive towards parliamentarians and what can be done at the CACD level or at the UN General Assembly level to include more voices from parliaments. So on those two issues, Isabel, would you like to start?

Isabel de Sola: So thank you for those excellent questions. I find that it’s okay, in a sense, if you don’t know about the WSIS or the GDC. I go home at night and I talk about it to my family and they have no idea what I’m talking about. But I’m from El Salvador, actually, and I was very pleased to hear in Geneva from the Mission of El Salvador how they talk about digital transformation in the terms of El Salvador. So how the government has described in a national plan of digital transformation, what are the priorities, etc. So I think the GDC and the WSIS are helpful guides, for example. They’re very helpful agendas. But say it in your own language and say it in your own priorities. How do these words and the GDC make sense in your cultures and what are the priorities? I think that’s really the key. They’re a very useful starting place and an ambitious way to bring together the actors around certain priorities. So that’s one idea. A second idea is on building a toolkit for mapping at the local level. We have it on the radar and it’s something that we would like to deliver shortly. I have to say, plug for the Diplo Foundation, is one of the best resources on capacity building for digital diplomacy. And even that’s something we could take back with us to Geneva. Geneva is the kitchen of digital policy making. I think I think Riyadh is today a kitchen of digital policymaking, and Paris is as well, and Beijing is as well. What we can do maybe in Geneva is spend some time to draw together the resources for parliamentarians so that the processes are more friendly. They’re not that easy to follow, and we’re aware of that, and we need to do more to make it friendly and accessible for parliamentarians to be there. There’s no better place than the IGF, really, with the parliamentarian track to get started, and yes, let’s stay in touch.

Sorina Teleanu: Thank you, Isabelle. Ambassador Kah, if you’re still with us, any reflections? Would you mind trying again? We’re still having digital challenges. All right. How else can we make this enjoyable if we don’t have some of the hiccups?

Muhammadou M.O. Kah: Okay, here we are. Can you get me now?

Isabel de Sola: For those technical difficulties, please don’t leave the IGF without taking this book written by Sorina, who’s very humble, and she didn’t mention it, but I see it’s in paper, so that can surmount the technical difficulties. This is a very good summary of digital diplomacy, where it stands, and how we got to where we got. I hope you have some extra copies.

Sorina Teleanu: Can you hear me now? Thank you, Isabelle, and yes, Ambassador Kah, over to you.

Muhammadou M.O. Kah: Thank you for that plug-in, and please bring a copy with you when you come to Geneva. My last contribution adding to what’s just been shared is that there is an interplay between the recently adopted GDC and the WSIS framework. And I think the parliamentarians are right. We need to engage them more and involve them and provide nuggets of these very important frameworks so that they will be able to process them and use them in their engagement among themselves and with the executive. The Global Digital Compact and the World Summit on Information Society are closely interlinked, each aiming to shape more inclusive development-oriented digital environment. And both of these frameworks focus on advancing shared principles and practical actions to narrow the digital divide that’s been talked about severally here today. And it’s essential to recognize the complementarity of these initiatives rather than treating them as separate or as standalone processes. While the GDC offers fresh momentum and renewed political attention, it can draw extensively on the accomplishments, lessons and mechanisms established through the WSIS process. The key is not to reinvent the wheel, but to improve and refine what already exists. And the parliamentarians can play a role as a convening platform at member states level to ensure that this is a reality. It is also crucial to remember that what matters most is not the process or the frameworks in which activities are undertaken, but the tangible impact on our people’s lives. By emphasizing the outcome. over policy statements, stakeholders can work towards bridging the digital divide and building human capacities. And again, this is where parliamentarians can help our member states because they are closer to the lives of our peoples on the ground. The actors involved on WSIS and the GDCs are often the same. Governments, civil society organizations, private sector, the technical community and academia. And this overlaps affords us a unique opportunity to create alignment and reinforce trust and cooperations. Parliamentarians hold an important place in this dynamics, in this ecosystem. As our lawmakers, they are directly responsible for developing policy and legislation that shape national digital environments. So I will say that the unique role of parliamentarians within national policymaking, checks and balances, enables them to foster policy coherences. And their active participation in the WSIS Plus 20 review process and shaping implementation of the WSIS outcomes will place parliamentarians at the heart of this work. Finally, it is important to increase their awareness, their enlightenment of the crucial issues involved in digital cooperation under both the WSIS and the GDC processes. And ultimately, the involvement of our parliamentarians undoubtedly can help guarantee that international frameworks like WSIS and the GDC drive substantial progress where it matters most, in the daily lives of peoples around the world. We must always remember that parliamentarians are at the heart of policymaking and legislation, and they are the closest to our people, and quite a number of them are with the people that are on the other extreme ends of the divide, which is our rural communities, who are mostly unconnected and cannot access and cannot afford connectivity. And I thank you so much.

Sorina Teleanu: Thank you also. Ambassador Kah, would you like to intervene? One minute will count.

Audience: Thank you very much, Ambassador Kah. I have participated in many processes, and I have also been a participant in IGF since the beginning until today. I remember that in December 2019, in Berlin, I was part of the parliamentarians who proposed the creation of a global organization. This was done in Poland the following year, in 2020. I was in a campaign at the time. We had a legislative campaign in my country. I was not there. I am a founding member of APNIC at the African level. It is a recommendation that I want to make, because we have done a lot. I participated in the African meeting under the African digital pact that we had in Cape Town with the CEA. I participated in Tanzania not long ago at the meeting on the WSIS Africa. It is a recommendation that I want to make today. I hope that it will help. will be listened to by the United Nations. What must be done to reach all countries, because the problem is to reach all countries, to reach the populations for which we are fighting, we, the parliamentarians. We must make sure that the parliamentarians’ organizations in each region of the world implement the same organization in the sub-regions and in the countries. This way, the information will go up from top to bottom and from bottom to top at each point. But as long as we don’t create… For example, if I take West Africa and Coas, there is an organization that was created not long ago in Dakar. Céline was there when the organization was created. There was an office that was set up by parliamentarians who are currently present. We must have this in East Africa, in North Africa and in the other regions of the world to do the same thing, the same re-armament. This way, you will see the objectives of 2060, 2030, of the African Union, of the whole world, which will be achieved. But as long as we don’t involve parliamentarians from top to bottom in the different countries, I think that the work here is with just some people who come. After that, there is no return. There is no collaboration between governments and parliamentarians in some countries. I think that this cannot work. I asked for one minute, I did two minutes. Excuse me.

Sorina Teleanu: Thank you for the intervention. Also, for your strong support for the IGF and the process and for the recommendation about more bottom-up inclusion. So, I’m going to conclude on that note. I think I have four keywords for us to wrap up the session. One is inclusion, inclusion of parliament, but also inclusion of needs and realities from a local level in global processes. The other one is implementation of whatever is being agreed at a global level. Let’s see how we put all of that into practice at a national, at a regional, and at a local level. And my three-key phrase is capacity building and awareness. And I think that three of us here, the IGF Secretariat, OSED, DIPLO, and also CSTD, Ambassador Kah, Geneva. We can take all of this back to Geneva and see how we can actually help with more capacity building and more awareness raising. Thank you Ambassador Kah, thank you Isabel, thank you DIG for facilitating this and good luck with the rest of the parliamentary track.

Agreement Points

Importance of addressing digital divides

Muhammadou M.O. Kah

Isabel de Sola

Digital divides exacerbate existing inequalities

One-third of global population still not connected to internet

Need for meaningful and affordable connectivity

Both speakers emphasize the persistent challenge of digital divides and the need to address them to ensure inclusive development and equal opportunities.

Implementation of global frameworks at national level

Isabel de Sola

Sorina Teleanu

Mapping GDC priorities to national context

Importance of implementing global frameworks at national level

Both speakers stress the importance of translating global digital governance frameworks into actionable policies at the national level.

Role of parliamentarians in digital governance

Muhammadou M.O. Kah

Isabel de Sola

Sorina Teleanu

Convening stakeholders for policy discussions

Exercising parliamentary control over ministries

Emphasizing tangible impacts over policy statements

All speakers agree on the crucial role of parliamentarians in shaping digital governance, from convening stakeholders to exercising control over ministries and focusing on tangible impacts.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlight the importance of UN-led processes on digital cooperation and governance, emphasizing the continuity between WSIS and the Global Digital Compact.

Muhammadou M.O. Kah

Isabel de Sola

WSIS review process upcoming in 2025

Global Digital Compact recently adopted

Unexpected Consensus

Need for capacity building and awareness for parliamentarians

Isabel de Sola

Audience

Convening stakeholders for policy discussions

Need for capacity building on digital issues

There was an unexpected consensus between a UN representative and audience members on the need for targeted capacity building for parliamentarians on digital governance issues, highlighting a shared recognition of this gap.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement include addressing digital divides, implementing global frameworks at the national level, and recognizing the crucial role of parliamentarians in digital governance.

Consensus level

There is a moderate to high level of consensus among the speakers on key issues. This consensus suggests a shared understanding of the challenges in digital governance and the potential roles various stakeholders can play. However, there are still areas where more detailed agreement on implementation strategies is needed.

Different Viewpoints

Inclusion of parliamentarians in UN processes

Audience

Muhammadou M.O. Kah

There is a call for greater inclusion of parliamentarians, not just executives, in UN processes related to digital governance. This inclusion is seen as necessary for parliamentarians to have the required effect and contribute meaningfully to these processes.

Parliamentarians hold an important place in this dynamics, in this ecosystem. As our lawmakers, they are directly responsible for developing policy and legislation that shape national digital environments.

While audience members emphasized the need for direct inclusion of parliamentarians in UN processes, Ambassador Kah focused more on their role at the national level without explicitly addressing their involvement in UN processes.

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around the level and nature of parliamentarians’ involvement in global digital governance processes and how to best equip them for this role.

difference_level

The level of disagreement is relatively low, with most speakers agreeing on the importance of parliamentarians’ involvement in digital governance. The differences mainly lie in the approach and emphasis on how to achieve this involvement. These minor disagreements do not significantly impede the overall goal of improving digital cooperation and governance, but highlight the need for a more structured approach to integrating parliamentarians into global digital governance processes.

Partial Agreements

Both agree on the importance of parliamentarians’ involvement in digital governance, but differ on the approach. Isabel suggests parliamentarians should convene stakeholders, while the audience emphasizes the need for capacity building for parliamentarians themselves.

Isabel de Sola

Audience

Parliamentarians can play a crucial role in convening different sectors at the national level for conversations on important digital policy issues. This can help inform policy-making and build local and national networks to drive digital agendas forward.

There is a need for targeted capacity building and training initiatives for parliamentarians on these topics.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlight the importance of UN-led processes on digital cooperation and governance, emphasizing the continuity between WSIS and the Global Digital Compact.

Muhammadou M.O. Kah

Isabel de Sola

WSIS review process upcoming in 2025

Global Digital Compact recently adopted

Key Takeaways

Two key UN-led processes on digital cooperation are the WSIS review and the Global Digital Compact

Digital divides and inequalities persist, with one-third of the global population still not connected to the internet

Emerging challenges in digital governance include cybersecurity threats, misinformation, data governance, and AI development

Parliamentarians have an important role to play in digital governance but are often not sufficiently included or informed about global processes

Implementation of global frameworks at the national level is crucial but challenging

Resolutions and Action Items

UN representatives to take back suggestions for improving parliamentarian involvement to Geneva

Consider creating toolkits to explain global frameworks to parliamentarians

Explore ways to make UN processes more inclusive and accessible for parliamentarians

Increase efforts to raise awareness and build capacity among parliamentarians on digital issues

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively bridge the gap between global frameworks and national implementation

Specific mechanisms for increasing parliamentarian involvement in UN processes

How to address the concentration of power in the digital economy

Strategies for closing persistent digital divides

Suggested Compromises

Frame global digital agendas in local terms and priorities to make them more relevant and actionable

Create regional and national parliamentary organizations to facilitate information flow between global and local levels

Focus on tangible impacts and outcomes rather than policy statements when implementing frameworks

Digital technologies are transforming our world at a remarkable pace, at a very remarkable pace. They are driving economic growth, helping in the fight against poverty, and making information more accessible than ever before. For instance, digital platforms now enable small and medium-sized enterprises to reach global markets. Digital access is very important. The Internet of Things is streamlining supply chains and reducing the cost of trade. Yet as we celebrate these achievements, we must also confront the persistent digital divide as wonderfully articulated by our Secretary General of the ITU in the earlier session.

speaker

Muhammadou M.O. Kah

reason

This comment provides a balanced perspective on the transformative power of digital technologies while also highlighting the persistent challenge of the digital divide. It sets the stage for a nuanced discussion of both progress and ongoing issues in digital development.

impact

This framing helped shape the rest of the discussion by establishing the dual nature of digital progress – both its benefits and challenges. It led to further exploration of specific issues like connectivity, digital skills, and the need for inclusive policies.

The Global Digital Compact has five pillars, and it ties together the issues in a way that is fit for purpose. It gives a sort of refresh to the agenda of the World Summit on the Information Society, which was approved 20 years ago. And the refresh was important, but it doesn’t do away with the whisses. In a sense, it’s like the icing on a big cake.

speaker

Isabel de Sola

reason

This comment provides a clear framework for understanding the Global Digital Compact in relation to previous initiatives like WSIS. The metaphor of ‘icing on a big cake’ effectively communicates the idea of building upon and enhancing existing efforts.

impact

This explanation helped participants understand the continuity and evolution of global digital initiatives. It led to further discussion on specific pillars of the GDC and how they relate to current challenges.

Actually, I find myself here, I want to back up my colleague who asked for including the parliamentarians, not just the executives, because if you’re talking about the review for WSIS process, for the review for anything, we are not included in such things. So, we cannot actually do the effect or the required effect if we’re not included or we don’t know about it.

speaker

Audience member

reason

This comment highlights a critical gap in the current process – the lack of inclusion of parliamentarians in global digital governance discussions. It challenges the existing approach and advocates for more inclusive participation.

impact

This comment shifted the discussion towards the role of parliamentarians and the need for their greater involvement. It led to further comments and suggestions on how to better include parliamentarians in these processes.

I think it would be really useful… having a toolkit on what you mentioned about a map of the GDC priorities, like for the government, for the parliamentarians, like the countries, it would be really useful to have a toolkit on, for instance, what each point means or how those points are in reality, you know, like how you can transform, I don’t know, what safety and security online means and see like to be really explained.

speaker

Agustina from Argentina

reason

This comment offers a practical suggestion for improving parliamentarians’ engagement with global digital initiatives. It addresses the earlier concerns about lack of awareness and proposes a concrete solution.

impact

This suggestion led to a more action-oriented discussion about how to make global digital governance frameworks more accessible and actionable for parliamentarians. It prompted consideration of practical tools and resources that could be developed.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by highlighting the complex nature of digital development, emphasizing the need for continuity and evolution in global digital initiatives, identifying gaps in current processes (particularly the lack of parliamentary involvement), and proposing practical solutions for better engagement. The discussion evolved from a high-level overview of digital challenges and global frameworks to a more focused conversation on how to make these frameworks more inclusive and actionable, particularly for parliamentarians. This shift demonstrated the importance of bridging the gap between global initiatives and national implementation, with a strong emphasis on the role of parliamentarians in this process.

How can parliaments be more effectively included in UN-led digital governance processes like WSIS and GDC?

speaker

Audience member

explanation

There’s a disconnect between executives and parliaments in many countries regarding these processes. More inclusion of parliamentarians is needed for effective implementation and oversight.

How can awareness and understanding of WSIS and GDC be improved among parliamentarians globally?

speaker

Audience member from South Africa

explanation

Many parliamentarians are unfamiliar with these frameworks, which hinders their ability to contribute effectively and approve relevant budgets.

Can a toolkit be developed to help parliamentarians understand and map GDC priorities for their countries?

speaker

Agustina from Argentina

explanation

A practical guide explaining each point of the GDC and how it applies in reality would help parliamentarians identify national priorities and contribute more effectively.

How can UN processes be made more inclusive and accessible for parliamentarians?

speaker

Isabel de Sola

explanation

Current processes are not easy to follow. More effort is needed to make them friendly and accessible for parliamentarians to participate.

How can parliamentary organizations be established at regional and sub-regional levels to improve information flow and implementation of global digital frameworks?

speaker

Audience member

explanation

Creating structured parliamentary organizations at various levels could help ensure better top-down and bottom-up communication and implementation of digital governance initiatives.