IGF Parliamentary track – Session 2

Summary

This panel discussion focused on parliamentarians’ priorities in the digital sphere and approaches to effective regional and global cooperation on digital governance. Participants from various regions shared their experiences and perspectives on digital challenges and regulatory efforts.

Key themes included the need for harmonized regulations across regions, balancing innovation with risk mitigation, and addressing issues like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and digital divides. Speakers emphasized the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement, capacity building, and international collaboration in developing effective digital governance frameworks.

The European Union’s progress on AI regulation was highlighted, along with efforts in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East to develop digital strategies and infrastructure. Participants stressed the need for flexible, technology-neutral legislation that can adapt to rapid technological changes. The importance of digital literacy, updated educational curricula, and non-stereotypical skills development was also emphasized.

Challenges discussed included varying levels of digital development across regions, the need to balance national sovereignty with global standards, and the impact of geopolitical changes on internet governance. Speakers called for more focused implementation of IGF outcomes, better tracking of progress between forums, and consideration of emerging technologies like quantum computing in future discussions.

The discussion concluded with suggestions for the IGF’s future, including streamlining interventions, measuring concrete progress, addressing intersectoral collaboration, and reconsidering internet governance in light of changing global dynamics. Participants expressed hope for the IGF to evolve and address broader technological issues beyond just internet governance as it approaches its 20th anniversary.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– Regional and global cooperation on digital governance

– Challenges of regulating rapidly evolving technologies like AI and quantum computing

– Need for capacity building, education, and addressing digital divides

– Balancing innovation with protection of rights and security

– Role of parliamentarians in shaping digital policies and legislation

The overall purpose of this discussion was to bring together parliamentarians from different regions to share perspectives on priorities and approaches for digital governance, and to explore ways to enhance regional and global cooperation on these issues.

The tone of the discussion was generally collaborative and forward-looking. Participants shared challenges faced in their regions but also emphasized opportunities for cooperation. There was a sense of urgency about the need to address emerging technologies, but also caution about over-regulating. The tone became more action-oriented towards the end as participants suggested concrete steps for future IGF meetings.

Speakers

– Agustina Ordonez: Moderator, works at the Chamber of Deputies in Argentina

– Shuaib Afolabi Salisu: Senator from Nigeria, Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity

– Martin Yeza: Member of Parliament in Argentina, member of the Science and Technology Commission

– Muneer Soroor: Member of Parliament of Bahrain

– Lina Gálvez Muñoz: Member of the European Parliament, Chair of Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee

– Safar Alizoda: Member of Parliament of Tajikistan, Deputy Member of the Parliament in Law Committee

Additional speakers:

– Catherine Mumma: Senator from Kenya

– Professor Saler Shomrani: Professor of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, member of Saudi Shura Council/Saudi Parliament

Parliamentary Perspectives on Digital Governance: A Comprehensive Overview

This panel discussion, part of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), brought together parliamentarians from various regions to explore priorities in the digital sphere and approaches to effective regional and global cooperation on digital governance. The dialogue highlighted the complex challenges faced by legislators in addressing rapidly evolving technologies and the need for collaborative, multi-stakeholder approaches to digital policy-making.

Introduction and Context

The moderator introduced the session, emphasizing its importance within the IGF framework and noting the diverse linguistic representation, with some speakers using Spanish. Panelists were given strict time limits for their responses to ensure a comprehensive discussion.

Key Themes and Priorities

1. Multi-level Approach to Digital Governance

Participants emphasized the need for strategies at national, regional, and global levels, recognizing the interconnected nature of digital challenges.

2. Harmonisation of Regulations

Lina Gálvez Muñoz, Member of the European Parliament, highlighted the benefits of harmonised regulations across regions, arguing that such alignment creates larger markets and ultimately benefits businesses.

3. Balancing Innovation and Regulation

Speakers grappled with how to create regulatory frameworks that protect citizens without stifling technological advancement.

4. Technology-Neutral Legislation

Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu from Nigeria proposed creating technology-neutral laws that focus on preventing misuse rather than regulating specific technologies.

5. Addressing Digital Divides

Participants highlighted persistent challenges of digital divides, both between and within countries, including issues of connectivity and affordability.

6. Capacity Building and Education

The importance of updated curricula and digital skills development was emphasized, with a focus on non-stereotyping skills in digital literacy.

Regional Perspectives and Initiatives

1. African Perspective

Senator Salisu identified access, education/capacity building, and regulatory issues as key priorities for Africa.

2. European Union Progress

Lina Gálvez Muñoz highlighted the EU’s progress on digital regulation, including the passage of the Artificial Intelligence Act and ongoing work on the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act.

3. Latin American Challenges

Martin Yeza (name corrected) focused on the digital divide and lack of connectivity in rural areas as major challenges in Latin America.

4. Middle Eastern Initiatives

Muneer Soroor discussed Bahrain’s efforts to implement legislation enhancing digital security and privacy protection, mentioning specific laws like the Personal Data Protection Law and the Cybercrime Law.

Audience Questions and Panelist Responses

The discussion included a Q&A session where audience members posed questions to the panelists. Key topics addressed included:

1. Strategies for regulating emerging technologies like quantum computing

2. Approaches to balancing AI regulation between safety concerns and innovation

3. Methods for addressing brain drain while promoting regional cooperation in the digital sphere

Panelists provided insights based on their regional experiences and emphasized the need for continued international collaboration on these issues.

Future of IGF and Digital Governance

Participants offered several suggestions for the next IGF meeting:

1. Senator Salisu called for streamlining interventions and better tracking of implementation progress between forums.

2. Martin Yeza suggested that the IGF should facilitate the creation of new international frameworks for emerging technologies.

3. Lina Gálvez Muñoz emphasized the importance of addressing geopolitical changes affecting internet governance and multilateralism.

Moderator’s Final Remarks

The moderator concluded by summarizing key points from the discussion and suggesting areas for future IGF meetings to address, including:

1. The need for more concrete outcomes and actionable recommendations

2. Increased participation from diverse stakeholders, particularly from the Global South

3. Continued focus on emerging technologies and their governance implications

Conclusion

The discussion underscored the complex and rapidly evolving nature of digital governance challenges. While there was broad agreement on the need for international cooperation and updated regulatory frameworks, participants offered diverse perspectives on specific priorities and approaches. The dialogue highlighted the importance of flexible, principle-based regulation, capacity building, and addressing digital divides. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, parliamentarians emphasized the need for ongoing collaboration and adaptive governance structures that foster innovation while protecting citizens’ rights and interests.

Agustina Ordonez: Hi, good afternoon. Thank you so much for joining us today. My name is Agustina Ordonez. I’m from Argentina. I work at the Chamber of Deputies there, and I will be moderating this panel. The name of this panel is, what are parliamentarians’ priorities in the digital sphere today and open exchange? And basically, we have here five parliamentarians from different regions who coordinate or who are here representing their regional parliaments. Some have regional parliaments, some don’t, but they still have initiatives and have been working through this year and several years in digital sphere. So, first of all, I would like to introduce them, and then we will pass to the questions. We will have two questions, and then I will open to the public. So, first, in my right, we have Cia. Sorry, Cia. It was really hard. I have it. I have it. No, I know you’re a senator. He’s from Nigeria. It’s just his name. I practiced it before.

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu: Let me help you. Let me start as a change-a-pitchy. Senator Shoaib Afolabi Salisu from Nigeria, representing the African Republic.

Agustina Ordonez: Yeah, you can say your name, and then I will say your bio. That’s better. Since 2023, Senator Salisu has been the chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity and vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity. Martin? He is a member of the parliament in Argentina. This is going to be in Spanish. Martin Yeza fue alcalde de la ciudad de Pinamar con 29 años, una ciudad turística por la que pasan cuatro millones de personas por año. Actualmente es diputado nacional por el Pro Partido de Mauricio Macri en Argentina. Es una de las autoridades de la Comisión de Ciencia y Tecnología. Tiene proyectos presentados sobre sandbox para inteligencia artificial, actualización de delitos informáticos, plan de desarrollo de startups tecnológicas y para que el Banco Central Argentino pueda operar y minar bitcoins. Then we have Muneer Soroor, member of parliament, it’s right, right, of Beirán, Beirán, Bajaray, sorry, excuse me. He has more than 30 years of experience in management and training. He has been involved in development, delivery and evaluation of vocational and labor market programs. Then we have Lina Gálvez Muñoz, right, member of the European Parliament, in Spanish is better. Lina is a member of the European Parliament since July 2019 and vice president of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies. In the European Parliament, she is chair of Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and vice chair of the panel for the Fuhrer of Science and Technology. And then we have Safar Alisoda, Member of Parliament of Takahistan. He is Deputy Member of the Parliament in Law Committee. So now I would like to start with a question to you all because I work at the Congress and I also work in initiative with parliamentarians in Latin America and the Caribbean and I know that sometimes it’s hard to get all parliamentarians together, parliamentarians who come from different backgrounds or countries and it’s hard to to get in the in the same or in the common agenda in these matters because sometimes they have different realities or priorities. So in this sense I would like to ask you how was your experience organizing regional summits or meetings in your respective areas, if you were able to identify common ground during these discussions and on one type of agenda were you able to make progress and if you could provide a brief overview of your country’s and region’s needs and priorities in the digital sphere. For this you will have three minutes and please try to respect the time. Thank you so much.

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu: Thank you so much. Let me start on a note of appreciation to the IGF Secretariat for convening this IGF parliamentary track. The same way we were able to get in Addis Ababa Ethiopia about a few weeks ago for the African Continental IGF and therefore bringing the parliamentarians together here, something that we will find extremely very useful in our march to create an internet that works for all. And here I speak for African region and I’m extremely delighted to recognize some of my colleagues. Maha is from Egypt in North Africa, I have Kathleen from Kenya in East Africa and I have Susan from Malawi and from West Africa I have a group in Batu, the inter-African parliamentarians, all the countries. in Africa are represented here to show the importance that the parliamentarians from Africa have attached to internet governance and to also show the solidarity and the cohesiveness with which we have addressed the issues that we believe are the important source. And also in this audience, we have Ministries of Digital Economy, the permanent secretary, the Minister of Digital Economy in Nigeria, Ejida Faluku Yusuf is here, his counterpart in Cameroon is also here, just to give an indication that the African continent is extremely dedicated to the issue of governance. Now, for us, it’s a lot easier to organize the parliamentarians on a regional level. We already have African Union at a continental level, and Africa, in addition to this continental body, we also have five regional bodies, including the Economic Committee of West African Countries, we have a similar thing in East Africa, we have a regional bloc in South Africa, we have in the north part of Africa, so it’s a lot easier to also build on these existing platforms and infrastructures to build assets together. And I’ll give you two examples. Just a few weeks ago in Addis Ababa, we had the African Internet Governance Forum, and during that process, we were able to identify three issues that are extremely very important to us in Africa, and I will group them into three baskets. If there’s enough time, I will elaborate on them much earlier. The first one, the first basket is access, and a number of issues on access. The second one is educational capacity building, and the third one is regulatory and policy issues. If I just run through them one by one, when we talk about access, infrastructure may be a challenge. It’s on the other part of the world, but in Africa, it’s more challenging. It’s not only challenging in terms of connectivity, it’s also challenging in terms of whether supporting infrastructure like power. So, for us as parliamentarians in Africa, we are looking at connectivity. This lack of connectivity and the deficit in digital infrastructure has created underserved communities and digital divide. The second issue under this axis is also that of affordability. Sometimes when we say that, oh, the rate of buying data is $0.02, is $1, you may think it’s a little sum of money, but when it translates into African indigenous currency and the earning power of the citizens, you will know that even when it is available, it is not affordable. And lastly, of course, on the axis as well, some of the issues that have created a digital divide, particularly women and some vulnerable communities, these advantages have further been amplified on the internet, meaning that if the women are underserved in the terrestrial plane, they are further underserved and under-included in the internet space. And I just quickly run through the other two issues, education and capacity building. Someone may be connected, but what does he use that internet connection for? Is he using it for social media or is he using it for meaningful connection in terms of empowerment, whether it’s small or medium scale enterprises for capacity building? So sometimes people are connected. We as a continent, we want to change the narrative from being a continent of downloaders. We also want to be able to upload information, upload things that will benefit the rest of the community. And that’s why when you look at the internet download rate in Africa, you usually have more, a higher download rate capacity than the upload capacity. So yes, we need to build capacity so that our teaming population, 70%, 60% of most African countries’ populations are youth. Then what do they use this for? And then part of the education and capacity building is also the parliamentarians. What you don’t have, you cannot give. If the parliamentarians don’t understand the issue about internet, what we’ll be able to regulate. But finally, on the regulatory issues, we have a challenge in Africa, as most other part of the world. Our laws and our regulation are really behind the realities of our technology. And this has even been further exacerbated by the advent of artificial intelligence. They’re trying today to make a law for cyber security. Tomorrow, artificial intelligence has come to even create further challenges for you. And the process of making law sometimes can be more elaborate, such that by the time you conclude the process of making one law, the realities have changed, and the laws have become obsolete. When I have more time, these are the three issues. So access, education, and capacity building are the regulatory and policy issues. When I have sufficient more time, I’ll come back to talk about some other issues that I consider to also be very important to us in Africa. I’ll pause for now.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much. It was really good. I’m so sorry that I have to keep with the three minutes, but we are five finalists, and I guess there are a lot of questions. So Martin, yes.

Martin Yesa: Muchas gracias. Gracias por la invitación. Mi nombre es Martin Yesa. Soy diputado nacional del PRO en Argentina. En mi pasado, como decía Austina, fui alcalde de una ciudad por la que pasan cuatro millones de personas por año. It’s a touristic city, it was 29 years old, and the experience of the Congress, particularly, as I think it will happen to some of you, was crossed because many times they are organizations imagined or designed practically 200 years ago, or at least the conceptual basis is 200 years old, and part of the problem or drawback has to do with the fact that it was an organization originally not oriented to results, but to draw laws, and that has as a problem what we study today in the public administration, which has to do with the review of results. Fortunately, under the tutorial of both Celinda and Agustina Ordonez, we were able to celebrate a series of meetings in Latin America, a continent that has a series of particularities. On the one hand, this morning there was a global presentation in the Central Hall, the problem of the number of people who do not access Internet services, which is around 35 and 37 percent, a figure that rises, in the case of our subcontinent, to practically 50 percent. For the people who have done public policy or who have studied public policy design, they know that one of the problems we have when it comes to thinking economically about the law, one of the problems we have is infrastructure versus demographic density. There are public investments that in urban areas obviously have a return of investment, a much higher return on investment than in areas that are depopulated. In countries like Argentina in particular, we have 50 percent of the population concentrated in less than 25 percent of the territory and practically 50 percent of the remaining population in the rest. Some of the conclusions, therefore, in which we were working we can conclude, had to do with three layers of problem. The first, the problem, the legitimacy of origin that the state has to try to generate regulations for a society that is moving at a speed, but that does not necessarily think of itself as a state. Not only its bureaucratic design, the design of its policies, but also the institutions. The next layer, the problem of strengthening the infrastructure, which obviously requires financing, but also requires regional plans and joint efforts. Particularly ours is one, in the case of South America, particularly, and in some parts of Central America, we have certain particularities with democratic problems, that is, interruption of democratic governments, as we also have a problem of institutional instability due to cases of corruption, for example, as has happened in some countries with so-called early elections. So that naturally makes it difficult to develop regional strategies. The second has to do with the gap.

Martin Yeza: In the case of women, today a global figure is cited. In the case of Latin America, it is practically less than half the number of women who are part of the educational and technological system. And finally, what we were concentrating on, and which is one of the issues that I think is going to be one of the central issues of the coming year, is how to create regulations or dynamic institutions or itinerants, or, as I like to call them, living laws. When one remembers the debate between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson at the beginning of the design of the American Constitution, the debate was about whether it is necessary to design norms that go through time, that are permanent, that… that generate legal security versus Thomas Jefferson who said that when the rules are not reviewed every 20 years, there is a risk that the dead govern us and that we pay for innovation, which is one of the central dilemmas that we have here. That is why, personally, I have presented a series of projects related to regulatory sandboxes, which if someone is interested, we can talk about, and particularly in the case of countries like Argentina, it is also necessary, with the challenge of artificial intelligence, an update of the personal data law. These are some of the central points in which we have been working in the IGF of Latin America.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you very much, Martín. Now, Member of Parliament, Munir Salul, please. Thank you.

Muneer Soroor: Peace be upon you and good evening to everyone. Of course, we are trying to save as much time as possible. First of all, I would like to talk about the importance of digital transformation. Today, digital transformation has become essential and necessary for all countries in the world. There may be people who say, no, this is a poor country, a rich country. No, digital transformation is important and essential to face the challenges that these countries face, such as technology and modern technologies. In order to save us from digital transformation, we must improve the efficiency and innovation of all those who deal with it. To speak quickly, in the face of rapid changes, countries need to develop and develop necessary legislations. For example, how to deal with artificial intelligence developments, personal data protection, and digital privacy. Of course, when it comes to priorities, it is required to improve cyber security to protect the digital infrastructure from increased attacks. Thank you. or the digital vacuum that technology provides to everyone. Let me quickly present to you the priorities that these countries need in order to co-operate with the digital transformation. Implementing legislation that follows digital developments. Balancing between innovation and protection of rights. Enhancing cyber security, which is important because it is a way to prevent electronic attacks and protect the digital infrastructure. Training legitimate parliamentarians. Reducing the digital vacuum. Adopting digital transformation. I will try to focus on what we have achieved in the Kingdom of Bahrain. On the national level, the role of the legislative branch in the Kingdom of Bahrain. As a country that has a vision and a vision for the digital future. It is of great importance to protect digital rights and provide safe and usable environment. This approach was adopted by the Bahraini parliament in conjunction with the council and the cabinet to introduce legislative amendments to enhance digital security. In addition, to protect privacy and prevent electronic crimes. The role of the Bahraini parliament is to cooperate with other governments and technology companies to guarantee the implementation of these laws effectively through measures that require the parliament to achieve a balance between the rights of individuals and the rights of citizens. The Bahraini parliament is a leading position in the field of digital legislation. The most important legislative branch in the Kingdom of Bahrain has adopted several legislative amendments to regulate digital rights.

Agustina Ordonez: It’s not working. Okay. Sorry, can you stop? In ours, it’s not working. The English. Ah, okay, okay. Sorry to interrupt you. Again? Okay.

Muneer Soroor: On the national level, the role of the legislative branch in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahrain’s role is to protect digital rights, to provide a safe environment for users, and to implement legislative amendments to strengthen digital security, including privacy protection laws and electronic crimes. This has made it easier for the Kingdom to achieve a balance between the creation and protection of individuals in the digital space. Let’s talk about some of the legislations that the Bahraini government has passed. The Bahraini legislation has passed several legislations to regulate digital rights and to comply with them. One of them is the Law No. 60, which is about information security, the Law on Privacy Protection, the Law on Electronic Addresses and Transactions, and the Law on Electronic Records for Transaction. In the end, we are trying to implement these projects to protect the public health and to protect the law-abiding users of these digital technologies. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you very much. Now, Member of Parliament Lina Galvez-Muñoz, please. Thank you.

Lina Gálvez Muñoz: Thank you very much. We will speak in English, which is a more common language in the European Parliament. Thank you very much for organizing this panel. You asked for cooperation, achievement and agenda. I will try to make it in three minutes. For us, cooperation is a bit easier because we have a European Parliament for the European Union. we have a kind of a government in the commission and also the different member states, the different countries cooperate also in the what is called council, which is the co-legislature with parliament so that make easier, not easy, very easy, because obviously we have to put together a different interest for different countries to advance in legislation. And so we have done it, especially in the last term, in the last legislation of 2019 to 2024, we are starting now a new legislative term. And also, as you know, in the middle was COVID that make us very clear that digitalization was going to a faster path than we thought and that we really need to go very fast in order to regulate everything to avoid risk, but also to make the best of the opportunities. And we have regulated, we have a few new legislation. We have the Digital Services Act, which mandates transparency and accountability for large platforms to combat disinformation, hate speech and electoral interference. We are now trying to establish a standard for content moderation and harmonizing the different country laws across the subtly defining and harmonizing what is illegal content. Since the UK is not anymore in the European Union, they are not part, but they have passed also a UK online safety act that is very similar. We have also passed a digital market act that it is linked to the fair competition and in the digital markets. And we have passed also the Artificial Intelligence Act, as you know, the first world. binding law on artificial intelligence that is aiming to reduce risk, create opportunities, combat discrimination and to bring transparency. But more than everything, it is related also to ban the unacceptable. This is very much. We have also passed the cyber security package. There are three different legislations, cyber security, cyber resilience and cyber solidarity. The one that is meant for cooperation in a very sensible area, which is security, is the cyber solidarity act that looks really for the cooperation among the different states. I think it is a very good practice. I was the rapporteur of this law, so if anyone is interested, I could tell more about it. But it is also a very good example of exactly that, this regional cooperation also with third countries. And we have also, well, make also some legal advances that make possible the digitalization, like the Chips Act or the Critical Raw Material Act. But I will move now to the agenda and the problems we mainly have. Obviously, we have also some problems with inclusivity. In our case, it is more regarding connectivity and rural areas, but also some divides like age divide in our case. And regarding gender, which we have also gender divide, but it is more linked to the cyber security or the online violence that women are especially targeted in online and especially targeted with a sexual content. And so in our gender-based violence directive, the first directive on gender-based violence for the European Union that we passed on May, we have included cyber violence for the first time. And we have included some new crimes regarding cyber violence against women. Obviously, the digital literacy is also a problem for us. It is in the agenda. Skills, of course, the union for skills is to be now and obviously all the digital part will be important. The innovation gap is also a problem of course and also it is disinformation and polarization. This is very very important because obviously algorithm amplified everything that is hate, everything that is polarizing and we have a great problem with that. Also with this information especially we have we are receiving more cyber attacks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It has really gone up and this is very clear and we have developed what we call the democratic shield in order to protect ourselves. And obviously we have also and I am finishing without in our agenda to solve some conflicted principles of problem like privacy and the freedom of speech for one side and transparency and security on the other. Probably the directive in which we are seeing that and this conflict it is with a child sexual abuse directive that is now going on. We are debating now and there is this urgent urgency for security for child abuse. We know that there are especially vulnerable children in the digital area but on the other hand to end up the encrypt algorithm it is something that many people don’t want to see. So this discussion is going on right now. So as well if there are any advances from this area in other regions of the world we will be more than happy to discuss. So thank you very much.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much. Now, Safar Ali Sodat, please. Thank you.

Safar Alizoda: I would like to note that all the processes related to digitalization and the development of digital technologies are similar. It all depends on what stage each country is at, what opportunities it has. I represent the Republic of Tajikistan. It is one of the remote countries of the post-Soviet state. We have similar problems, such as the last mile, the communication deadlock, and the limitation of access to the sea. I would like to note that at this stage, the head of our country, our policy of open doors, and especially the implementation of strategic documents and the approach of active cooperation with the UN, which I am a member of, says that we are ready to cooperate in solving all the issues and difficulties that we may face. The processes are dynamic, they affect each other. I am sure that this approach, this forum, will become a reality. and it will become a very effective platform for sharing experience and supporting each other to achieve the common goal of global development. Thank you for your attention.

Agustina Ordonez: Wow, amazing. Thank you so, so much for respecting the time. And the second question I would like to ask you is, because from what I heard there are obviously different realities depending on the region. Now we have the European region who has a parliament, so it’s completely different from the reality from Latin America or maybe Asia. So, what I would like to ask you is, what approaches do you believe would lead to a more effective regional and global, because since we are talking about internet is not only regional but also global, cooperation on digital governance. So, what approaches do you believe would lead to a more effective regional and global cooperation on digital governance? So, Senator Afolabi Salisu, please.

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu: Thank you, I’ll make it very brief. I think for me, we require the three levels. You need a regional national approach, you need a regional strategy and of course a continental world. And I will use Africa as an example. Africa has 54 countries. These 54 countries have different realities. And therefore, every nation must have its own strategy that would build on both regional, continental and indeed global perspectives. If you take cyber security as an example, you have a Budapest Convention that has inspired a number of cyber security laws in different African countries. But you also do know that there are nuances within each country and within each region that will make some of the elements of Budapest Convention to be modified to suit the local peculiarities. But at the same time, even when you get to Africa, the reality of Cameroon is different from that of Egypt, Malawi is different from Nigeria, and if you adopt a multi-stakeholder approach, it does mean that in Nigeria, in Kenya, in Malawi, do things that would meet the requirements of your region. However, because we are talking about something that is global, that cuts across, so you have For example, Africa has a strategy for developing from now to 2063, and part of that is to have African free trade area. How do you do free trade area if you do not harmonize your laws on cross-border data transfer as an example? So you need regional collaboration. And because United Nations and other organizations are also coming up with things that are global, so you require all of these three tiers, and part of those three tiers, first, you need engagement, and this process of engagement, including that of parliamentarians, you need capacity building, both for the use of the technology and for legislation. And third, and finally, you also need to be able to have inter-jurisdictional collaboration. If an element of crime is committed in Egypt, as an example, all the elements that will establish that crime are resident in Egypt if it is physical. But if somebody commits cyberbullying, it’s in Malawi. The cyber is in Asia. The victim is in North America. To establish, I mean, the element of the crime requires the collaboration of the three jurisdictions, where the suspect resides, where the cyber resides, and maybe where the victim also resides. So all of the three elements, both national, regional, and global, are required in order for us to have an effective data governance, and you must do so multistakeholder approach, engagement, capacity building, and collaboration across jurisdictions.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much. It’s true. It’s a challenge. It’s a huge challenge. Deputy Deza?

Martin Yeza: Positively, how can we boost our common intelligence so that the artificial intelligence becomes a tool to serve progress? Regarding the first matter, let’s focus on Latin America today in Millet’s government in Argentina. One of the action points is that non-regulation is better than other. And we also have Chile, on the other hand, Uruguay, or Colombia, people from Colombia as well, who have different regulatory systems. Even in the case of Chile, they have a wide and ample regulatory system in the context of Latin America. And the neoliberalism manual could say that the… country that invests more in AI is Argentina. However, the one that receives more investments is Chile, followed by Uruguay, and then, of course, we can exclude Brazil, which is a massive country. Then we have Colombia. Then we’re talking about the main part, which is this conflict that happened 12 years ago with Samuel Johnson, James Robinson. They all wrote about it, which is this issue about the economic growth. It is useless if we talk about the private sector, these unstable regulations that aren’t stable in time, if they are different than those that are agreed in a democratic manner that can be timely, and they should be agreed among all of us, which is not common in our continent. Regarding this regulatory arbitration, we have all these layers, and we have the issue that we’re seeing now in the last months in the different world democracies, especially in our continent. This is why I think that it is very complicated, and this is something that we’re working here in DIJF, and I think that it’s very important that we should work in this common regulatory framework that are common in a region, because maybe one country may have the best regulatory designs, but in the country next door, there is no type of regulation in the future as we are more agile, and these companies, especially big tech companies and all these data centers companies, could be affected, and this could also affect all the digital and economic sovereignty of the different countries. Secondly, we need to talk about how we can develop different collaborative forums among us. us. I think we could do this much more and much better. We should have more honest conversations. Recently, we were talking about the digitization of the state. And what happens poorly, often, is that we digitize a paradigm. We don’t digitize to bring the best services for the citizens. We digitize just to be analogic. But now that we’re learning with these common practices, I think that there is an opportunity related to the fact that we should not only digitize the state, which, obviously, we should do it because that’s trendy, but we should make sure that this digitization of the state should mean the best services possible for the citizen. And the citizen should be at the center of the public decision making. Secondly, these regulatory sandboxes are something that we’re also working with, not only at a governmental level, but also towards the societies. In Colombia, they have a very nice regulatory sandbox model, also in Brazil. And in other countries, we’re also trying to develop this. I know that the European Union has a program, an initiative towards 2026. And naturally, this will only entail a good experience between the public sector. But this is going to demand some flexibility from the private sector. Also, we need to reinforce international cooperation, since we have very different political matters. Sometimes, these judicial systems are not compatible. Sometimes, we need to see that all the federal states, we are often finding issues in terms of jurisdictional cooperation within our countries. Developing all of this is going to require a lot of intelligence. But in conclusion, I believe that we need to come from people being good and intelligent to be less scared about artificial intelligence while the bad guys are having fun with AI. But no, it should be the good and intelligent people, those that are having fun with AI, so that they can support the citizens with the best services and that they wouldn’t be scared anymore.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you very much. Mr. Munir Sidur, please.

Muneer Soroor: When we talk about digital governance, this requires a multi-sectoral approach and a multi-disciplinary approach, because this requires the cooperation and synergy of different stakeholders. Regional cooperation enhances comprehensive policies, co-op with the accelerated development of the digital transformation, and engaging academia, including universities and the private sector can provide innovative solutions and enhance responsibility. Now we are talking about the most important points, reinforcing and fostering international cooperation with the international organization and building up a partnership with the different UN agencies and set joint actions to implement international treaties and agreements in this regard. Bahrain is a leading country. in executing internet governance. The Bahrain Kingdom has endorsed the international agreement and convention in this regard, and Bahrain is the first country to endorse this agreement, which enhances the emergence of new sectors in the digital economy. And this underscores the importance of cooperation of different international organizations and the cooperation between the government agencies and the private sector to implement and to put in force the digital laws, which strike the balance between innovation and protection of the rights of individuals. And Bahrain, as well, has started modern infrastructure, which enhances digital transformation. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much. Parliamentarian Lina?

Lina Gálvez Muñoz: Thank you very much. I’m going to make a kind of a wish list and then to make two more reflections. So, on my wish list would be clear goals and principles, including, obviously, digital human rights, innovation, cybersecurity, the good ones, really driving artificial intelligence. Obviously, multi-stakeholder engagement, including space. We are a good institution in this institutional framework. Obviously, capacity building, but capacity building and also regarding regional cooperation. We really need also to avoid brain drain, because I think this is very important, very, very important. We are seeing that inside Europe, but it is also happening globally. And yes, we cooperate much among each other, but that could happen too. And this is, the mobility is good, but also we really need to avoid brain drain. Obviously, global standards and norms, open communication and transparency, flexibility and adaptability, evaluation and review mechanism could be kind of this wish list I was taking. I would like to make two more reflections, if you allow me. One is after hearing my Argentinian colleague being myself an economic historian, economic institutions professor, and to see cited the institutional economist. Obviously, it is a very interesting reflection you were making about at the end, which countries are receiving more investment or not. And at the end, security, what businesses are looking for. And if you have a good relation, and if this relation is as much harmonized as possible, and the market is bigger, then it’s better at the end for business. So this idea that, oh, no, it’s not good, that you have too much regulation in the European Union. Then when you talk to business, say, what we want is that regulation to be harmonized. Because for us, it’s much easier to deal with one directive for 27 countries than with 27 directives. So this makes security that it is kind of a standard now. It’s becoming a standard. It was very clearly said at the very beginning. And at the end, everybody is most happy with the GDPR. So we really need to advance in this common standard, obviously, knowing that the different realities are different. And there are a lot of inequalities. But this is something we really need to make clear and not to allow this neoliberal narrative really to be. And there’s another very small refraction. It is that we cannot responsibilize or make the digital regulation to fix what is not a consequence of the digital. regulation. I mean, I explain myself. If there is a lack of democracy, probably is that we really need to improve democracy also in the digital space, but it is a question. Or inequalities, the divide, the different divides. Obviously, we have a system that is increasing inequalities, so we have to tackle these inequalities probably also with our economic policy and other policies. So what I would like to say with that is we need also this digital regulation being more holistic and also solving what it can be solved and trying to solve with other regulation in other fields, mainly economic fields, or in the better democratic institutions, what can be solved in other places. So don’t take the digital regulation as kind of a panacea, but just try to link with the rest of the regulation in order to make a better world and a better democratic institutions for everybody. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much. Mr. Safar Alisola, please.

Safar Alizoda: I think there are a lot of factors when you need to give some kind of approach or recommendations. You can’t say exactly where, how, what is needed. Everything depends on technical conditions, potential growth. And unfortunately, the economic component, I speak from experience, which greatly affects this process. But I just want to note that cooperation in many ways can help promote the process, that is, the exchange of experience between countries, those who are already far beyond the limits of remote problems or other technical issues. In any case, other countries, for example, what colleagues from the African region said, they will come to these problems. But to work on this now, that is, to develop universal documents that will already help to correctly set up a strategy for countries that are at different levels, this is already a good practice. I just want to add that we, for example, in Tajikistan, made a decision to use the leadership of the Inter-Parliamentary Union for the digital transformation of parliaments. I think this is a very good document that summarizes a very good practice of many other developed countries that we can use in a useful way. There is also a good practice of developing universal laws, which, again, can accumulate the best practices and experience of other countries in the field of Internet regulation, in the field of development of regulatory acts, which will help us and our other colleagues who are at this level to promote the process faster, to achieve the tasks set out faster. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: So now I would like to open the floor. I don’t know if anyone has a question over there. We will take two or three questions.

Audience: As-salamu alaykum. Thank you very much for very informative talks. Thank you to all of the speakers. And first of all, I want to say welcome again to Saudi Arabia. My name is Professor Saler Shomrani, Professor of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. I’m a member of Saudi Shura Council or Saudi Parliament. So I have only one question for the speaker, Ms. Leen, I believe, from European Union. Regarding the AI, artificial intelligence, we know, I think, one of the first part of the world who made the AI regulations firmly, and I think they will apply it by 2026 or so. So my question would be, you know, the world still working on it, and there are maybe two parts of it. One part saying we have to wait until we see what’s going on with the AI later and give a chance to the companies as the gentleman here, also the other speaker. I see also United States did not do or did not make it yet. So maybe they are working on it in different way. And even in Saudi Arabia, we have the what’s called the SADAYA or the Special Agency of AI here in Saudi Arabia. They already made big steps. And also in our parliament regarding this issue, AI. It’s very critical issue or field. So my question would be, can you tell us more, please, about what you do in Europe and why it was postponed somehow to be applied, as we heard or read, you know, to be 2026? And was it clear what will going to happen by next? year or two years from now, you know, because it’s still evolving. So just, we are curious to know more about this and thank you very much so we can have the experience also for other countries.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you. There is another question. You, over? No. Ah, sorry. Ah, there. Yes, we have two. One there and one over there. Thank you very much.

Audience: My name is Catherine Mumma. I’m a senator from Kenya. I’m just wondering, the issue of legislation is varied with countries at different stages and in my view the need for possible minimum standards to guide everybody are necessary given that the services across the countries. What is your view about a possible minimum code of ethics that can guide actors on operating on digital technical, I mean, technologies as a minimum to guide whoever is doing anything anywhere in order to inject some responsibility around human rights, protection, safety and so on? I don’t know what you think about that, a code that can actually guide everybody around the world and who would be doing that? Is it IPU, is it the UN and so on?

Agustina Ordonez: Okay, thank you. We have another question over there. I don’t know who will be in charge of doing that and I don’t know our panelist’s opinion, but depending on what they say, maybe we can ask the parliamentary track to work on that, but we will see.

Audience: So, my question is based on the work we have been doing in fact on AI. This is everywhere, it’s a big topic. As a parliamentarian I worked on the negotiation of the AI Act and in fact I think we have two levels where I want to question our speakers about where we can work because we have two different streams. One is the reduction of risks from an ethical point of view in the internal, domestic, daily life of our societies. This is where I think we need to exchange good practices but in fact we will keep, I think, different models because European, American, Saudi Arabia, Chinese or just to mention a few, I think will not have exactly the same domestic ways. However, we can build some common understandings. For example, the definition of AI systems or the standardization process. This is one part. The other part where it’s crucial that we do more international cooperation because otherwise we will not really do anything significant is the safety space. How we build safe AI where there is the risk for safety. For example, the use in military or the use in cyber security or the use linked to climate change. I mean there are globally or the risk of misuse of deep fakes for this information. These are areas where the domestic legislation is not sufficient. So my question is how do you see this balance? Because sometimes we heard, I give only this example and I conclude that sometimes we heard a lot of attention from the big leaders, government leaders, industry leaders on the safety which is extremely important because it’s… it’s about the big risks, but sometimes putting these in contradiction, in contraposition with the daily management of real life, daily life risk, which entails the economy, the average citizens dealing with medical use of AI or justice system using AI, there will be a seminar about this later on today. I mean, how do you see this balance between the global and the larger and the smaller? And how we can work around that also for a good exchange, like the parliamentary track tries to do in the context of the IGF. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you. And we have the last one here. Short, please. Because it’s four questions and we have 10 minutes.

Audience: What I want you to ask in my mother language, please, in Espanol. Aprovechando que practicamente la mitad de la mesa es Español. Considering that we have the people here, Spanish speakers. First of all, I want to thank the hospitality of our hosts, our brother country, Saudi Arabia. Thank you so much for welcoming us. My question for the speakers that are experts, I’m a professor in the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, and I’m also a European parliamentary. There’s a question that everybody has spoken about, and I am really interested in this in terms of cyber security and its link to the development of AI. And this has created new technologies that countries should have and should start implementing. Are you guys analyzing these technologies in this context and in the different geopolitical areas? I’m talking about quantum computing. This is going to be a main axis, which is going to boost all the computer development and take AI to the next level. So I don’t think we should forget about this. Nobody has spoken about it much, and I think this technology is going to bring a huge revolution in the next five or ten years. Our countries will see big changes. So I really wanted to bring this up and share with all of you here. Thank you very much.

Agustina Ordonez: Excellent question. So, I would like, please, we are, we have little, little, little time, so only two minutes. I know it’s four questions, but please, only two minutes. So, here, Senator.

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu: Thank you. My response to the issue of legislation, particularly when you have a technology as a moving target, first and foremost, we cannot leave the technology without legislation. But at the same time, we also don’t want to over-legislate so that you don’t kill innovation. So the balance for me is to ensure that in our legislation, we are not technology-specific, but rather, we focus on the elements that will make it easier for us to say the technology can only be used for these purposes, rather than measure the specific technology. Because if you measure specific technology, I’m a computer scientist, many years ago, artificial intelligence was not there. Quantum computing is going to change the entire land space. But if you do a legislation and you mention artificial intelligence, you mention quantum computing, two, three years down the line, you have to change the law again. So, I think we need to make laws that are technology-neutral, but focus on the element we want to prevent. And secondly, we also require international collaboration. Otherwise, artificial intelligence can be used for deadly things. And the easiest example I can give is genetic modification. I think when genetic engineering came out, it was going to an area that was going to violate the morality of the society. The Tenga community and the global community came together and said, we can only apply this genetic engineering in this part of the world. particular areas. I see a situation where artificial intelligence and some of these new technologies will have to be subjected to some form of moderation in the interest of the global community, in the interest of humanity, and that cannot be done at the national level, it cannot be done at the regional level, it has to be something of a collaboration.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much. Deputy Chesa, Martín.

Martin Yeza: I’ve been working in this quantum computing especially. It was something related, it’s not a theme in the IGF this year, that’s why I didn’t talk about it, but adding to the question from the other gentleman, basically I am pretty convinced that the liberal democracies, at least, we are starting an accelerated process and I believe that if we don’t have the ability to incorporate some of the logic that’s provided from AI, things like quantum computing, we might be replaced by worse systems, at least in the short phrase, in our own cultural experience at least. I believe that if we don’t develop a series of different accords, like the Bretton Brooks in the 40s, when different organizations like the IMF or others, if we don’t talk about these accords for these disruptive technologies, me, thinking positively and believing that the tendency of the world is to go towards progress, I believe that we could start a process in some ways. of life will greatly improve, especially in the design of new health systems with these genetic advances. But in terms of living together, different gaps and inequalities, I believe this could get worse. And I think we might be facing threats that we’re not familiar with. The first time I worked with quantum computing, it was in India. They had this one-tick communication chip to put under the skin that multiplies by over 28,000 times the reality encryption. And I thought, wow, how can we fight against all of these ideas? Well, in the same way that we’ve been doing things until now, by the way, I’m writing a book about this. Hopefully, it will be published by Editorial Planeta by June. Thank you very much.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Muneer Soroor: Develop strategies to set strategies and regulations and policies to enhance transparency and to invest in education. When we have education, we have a proper and sound education. I think this can upskill and re-skill. And this can reduce the risk to enhance international cooperation. If we have international framework for cooperation, we can mitigate the risk and we can reduce the risk together. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much. Thank you very much, Lina.

Lina Gálvez Muñoz: The innovation probably is the best way. So we need really to evaluate. In my wish list, one of the things was to evaluate. We really need to evaluate our legislation. Probably in the two levels, Brando and Ife were saying, there’s reduction of risk and there’s safety space. But it’s not only Artificial Intelligence Act. As I was saying before, Artificial Intelligence is not alone in itself. It’s the Digital Services Act that I was saying before that makes Big Platform accountable and responsible. It’s Data Act. It is the cyber security. We are more secure now just because of Artificial Intelligence. Otherwise, it will be absolutely impossible to defend ourselves from the attacks. So Artificial Intelligence is now starting to be included in many other legislations. And will be even more because we will not stop here. Now, this Artificial Intelligence Act is just a framework. But probably, most sure, new legislation will come in this legislative term. Especially regarding labor works or spaces or labor issues. This is something that will come because we have realized that it will be a great challenge. Not only in the terms that people will be substituted by Artificial Intelligence. Not only that, but also in the way the labor is organized, supervised. And how fundamental rights could be downloaded. In science, this is very important. You are a computer science professor. But if you talk with a physics department, they will be complaining. Because they are doing data mining with my own data. But it is not contextualized. So they are killing science. people, we are advancing on science. At the same time, other people are complaining. So, we really need to put more zoom on specific areas regarding artificial intelligence. That is what we are going to do, and also on quantum. You don’t know, but when the quantum prototype is in the European Parliament, it sleeps in my office. So, because I’ve been, you know, supporting the quantum people, and we will have now a quantum also act. So, that will be also going on. And probably one area we need also to think about very seriously and to put the zoom and to advance on it is neural rights. This is another frontier. This is a new frontier, and we don’t want to be late on this one, as we have been probably with artificial intelligence in general. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much.

Safar Alizoda: You can’t say that these rules can somehow regulate, especially the quantum itself. the process of creating artificial intelligence is something new, it’s moving forward, so even these minimal laws will be constantly updated and added over time. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: Sorry? I will ask that, no worries, no worries. So, now to finish with this question, because I’m going to take that, because I have a proposal, that’s why. Looking at the parliamentary track program and other IGF sessions this year, I would like to ask you, what would you like to see emerge at the IGF to address the priorities and all these challenges that you mentioned next year and in the other years coming?

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu: From the African Parliamentarians’ perspective, we would like to see three more things. Number one, we are cognizant of the fact that there are so many interventions that have created so many silos. We would like to see some of these interventions to be streamlined, so that the resources will be freed from the bureaucratic bottlenecks that are usually accompanying these so many silos and so many interventions from our developing partners, and we must appreciate what they are doing, but we would like to see some of these streamlined so that resources can now be more focused on the object of the intervention itself. The second thing we would like to see, we say it will be 20 years this year, and there will be also a number of other initiatives. What we would like to see more at IGF is also discipline for implementation and to track progress, so that every time this is the 19th IGF, so that when we are coming to the 20th IGF, anywhere it is going to take place, we can at least measure progress that as a result of our participation. at the 19th IGF in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, these are the specific tasks that the parliamentarians expected to do and we can therefore measure progress against that when next we meet. That for me and for most of my colleagues from African parliaments will be a major motivation for us to continue to come to IGF.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much, Deputy Shefa.

Martin Yeza: To start, what we’ve been working on in the IGF from Latin America, there is a topic that hasn’t been addressed related to the intersectorial collaboration. We have been talking about intersectorial collaboration because when we’re talking about quantum computing in our continent nowadays, in the American continent, the only ones that have quantum computing are private computers, IBM, Google. We don’t have any states that own these equipments, so we don’t know how a state can develop an act related to these, but when we don’t even have any sort of tool or technical capacity to be able to exert any sort of control because of this massive technological divide. The IBM model, for example, is an open source model, which is a great thing and this means that we can work collaborating together. The same with universities. Secondly, I don’t think we’ve talked about education and employment, but probably the most sophisticated tool that we can develop wouldn’t be any sort of regulation or technical collaboration. the most revolutionary tool that we can implement in our countries is updated curriculums. This is the most serious policy that could resolve a lot of our issues. Third, I already mentioned it in my previous answer, but I think I would like for the IGF to be what it used to be, the investment bank, payment bank, or the reconstruction bank that came before the global bank, the ones that came before the IMF, and the Bretton Woods Accords created new systems. If we talk about the Internet Governance Forum, that’s great, and it was very well created, but we have way more sophisticated technologies above the Internet or that work partly to the Internet that definitely could become tools and international organizations that are way more sophisticated with way better tools, because if we try to resolve them individually in our states, what are we going to do with some of these complex tasks? It’s going to be way more difficult than if we define an international methodology in which we can elaborate some solutions that we can then incorporate in our countries. Thank you.

Muneer Soroor: Of course, we in Bahrain, we develop a comprehensive framework to enhance responsible innovation and enhance as well, and enforce cyber security and to reduce digital divide through cooperation between companies. between companies and sharing experiences to set solutions to enhance digital governance. We have three points, to enhance the regional and international cooperation, to extend experience and set policies to protect rights and to enhance cyber security, and to apply and adopt the best policies and building capacities, and to have this kind of inclusive approach, for the different segments of society to benefit from the digital transformation, for Bahrain to be a leader in this regard, we should have a positive stance to benefit from the international experience in this regard. Thank you so much.

Lina Gálvez Muñoz: I mostly agree, especially how important it is also the digital literacy, especially skills. I mentioned before, but I would like to mention again, because I did not mention something, but that we really need to work on non-stereotype skills. This is very important, because otherwise we will not solve the gender divide or other divides, especially gender divides, so non-stereotyping skills, it is very important. But I would like to add something more. Being agreed that how important was Brett Good for global governance and multilateralism, we have to acknowledge that it was also based on the… on very great inequalities, regional inequalities, and power inequalities around the world. So probably one thing we really need to tackle also in IJF, in nurse IJF, is all the geopolitical changes that are going on and how that could affect common standards regarding internet governance and other digital governance in general, and how also the concentration of power in few hands that it is also going on could affect that as well. We have seen in recent elections how that works, but really geopolitics is changing a very fast path and we really need to rethink internet governance in this new world or geopolitical world where multilateralism, even multistakeholderism is under attack, let’s say. So we really need to rethink on this new world and this new chess world. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: Thank you so much. Mr. Safar Alizoda, please.

Safar Alizoda: Thank you very much. I just want to note that the IJF forum covered many issues, many challenges that the process of development of technological rights, regulation of this industry faces. I am sure that many of these recommendations, the recommendations of experienced participants will be included in the IJF forum. And I would like to ask in the future that we, in the next forum to track the results of the work, so that the IGF can help to develop specific programs or strategies that can be promoted in the future, invite financial institutions, so that we can move on to the next stage, so that in the next forum we do not discuss the same issues that we are talking about now. I think this will be the result of the next forum, and we will continue to discuss it in the next forum. I think the experts and those whom we invite to this important event, they also expect the same results from us, and they have the same vision and expectations. Thank you.

Agustina Ordonez: I want to thank the IGF Secretariat and especially the IGF Parliamentary Track, Selim Bal, for organizing this. I want to say two things. First thing, regarding the Minimum Code of Ethics that was mentioned prior, I think it would be a good idea, Selim, I know that you are going to do a survey after the Parliamentary Track. Maybe we can add something on that, asking the parliamentarians if they want to donate, if they want to draft this. And secondly, what Deputy Jessa mentioned, that it’s not only about the Internet, it also will be really grateful to see you all next year in Norway, because the IGF is turning 20 years, and there will be a lot of discussion, because it has to be redefined, the IGF. And what he mentioned, it’s really important for you all to be there, to see it’s not only about the Internet, but it’s also about… new technology, quantings, and all the things. So thank you so much for being here, and we see you tomorrow.

Agreement Points

Need for updated legislation to keep pace with technological advancements

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Martin Yeza

Muneer Soroor

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

Our laws and our regulation are really behind the realities of our technology.

Implementing legislation to keep pace with digital developments

European Parliament passing comprehensive digital regulations like AI Act

Speakers agree on the necessity of updating laws and regulations to address rapid technological changes and ensure effective digital governance.

Importance of regional and international cooperation in digital governance

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Martin Yeza

Muneer Soroor

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

Multi-level approach needed: national, regional, and global strategies

Harmonized regulations across regions benefit businesses and create larger markets

Comprehensive framework for responsible innovation and cybersecurity

Importance of addressing geopolitical changes affecting internet governance

Speakers emphasize the need for collaboration at regional and global levels to effectively address digital governance challenges.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlight the significant challenges of digital access and connectivity, particularly in developing regions and rural areas.

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Martin Yeza

Access, education/capacity building, and regulatory issues are key priorities for Africa

Digital divide and lack of connectivity in rural areas are major challenges

Both speakers emphasize the importance of education and capacity building to address technological changes while ensuring the protection of rights.

Martin Yeza

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

Need for updated curricula to address technological changes

Balancing innovation with protection of rights in AI regulation

Unexpected Consensus

Role of IGF in creating new international frameworks

Martin Yeza

Safar Alizoda

IGF should facilitate creation of new international frameworks for emerging technologies

Developing specific programs/strategies and involving financial institutions

Despite representing different regions, both speakers unexpectedly agree on the need for IGF to take a more active role in developing concrete strategies and frameworks, similar to international financial institutions.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement include the need for updated legislation, importance of regional and international cooperation, addressing digital divides, and enhancing education and capacity building in the digital sphere.

Consensus level

There is a moderate to high level of consensus among the speakers on key issues, particularly on the need for collaborative approaches to digital governance. This consensus suggests a growing recognition of the global nature of digital challenges and the importance of coordinated responses across regions and stakeholders. However, specific implementation strategies and priorities may vary based on regional contexts and development levels.

Different Viewpoints

Approach to digital regulation

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Martin Yeza

Technology-neutral laws focused on preventing misuse, not specific technologies

Harmonized regulations across regions benefit businesses and create larger markets

Salisu advocates for technology-neutral laws focusing on preventing misuse, while Yeza emphasizes the importance of harmonized regulations across regions to benefit businesses and create larger markets.

Priority areas for digital development

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Martin Yeza

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

Access, education/capacity building, and regulatory issues are key priorities for Africa

Digital divide and lack of connectivity in rural areas are major challenges

Balancing innovation with protection of rights in AI regulation

Speakers emphasize different priority areas for digital development, with Salisu focusing on access and education in Africa, Yeza highlighting connectivity issues in Latin America, and Gálvez Muñoz stressing the importance of balancing innovation with rights protection in AI regulation.

Unexpected Differences

Role of education in digital governance

Martin Yeza

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Need for updated curricula to address technological changes

Access, education/capacity building, and regulatory issues are key priorities for Africa

While both speakers mention education, there is an unexpected difference in emphasis. Yeza specifically highlights the need for updated curricula, while Salisu includes education as part of a broader set of priorities for Africa. This difference is unexpected given the general agreement on the importance of education in digital development.

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around regulatory approaches, priority areas for digital development, and the specific roles of international cooperation and education in digital governance.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among the speakers is moderate. While there are clear differences in emphasis and approach, there is also significant common ground, particularly in recognizing the need for international cooperation and the importance of addressing digital challenges. These differences reflect the varied regional perspectives and priorities, which could potentially enrich the discussion on digital governance but may also complicate efforts to reach consensus on global strategies.

Partial Agreements

All speakers agree on the need for improved international cooperation and frameworks, but they differ in their specific approaches. Salisu emphasizes streamlining interventions, Yeza proposes new international frameworks, and Gálvez Muñoz focuses on addressing geopolitical changes.

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Martin Yeza

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

Need to streamline interventions and track implementation progress

IGF should facilitate creation of new international frameworks for emerging technologies

Importance of addressing geopolitical changes affecting internet governance

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlight the significant challenges of digital access and connectivity, particularly in developing regions and rural areas.

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

Martin Yeza

Access, education/capacity building, and regulatory issues are key priorities for Africa

Digital divide and lack of connectivity in rural areas are major challenges

Both speakers emphasize the importance of education and capacity building to address technological changes while ensuring the protection of rights.

Martin Yeza

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

Need for updated curricula to address technological changes

Balancing innovation with protection of rights in AI regulation

Key Takeaways

A multi-level approach (national, regional, global) is needed for effective digital governance

Harmonized regulations across regions benefit businesses and create larger markets

International cooperation is crucial for addressing global AI safety risks

Technology-neutral laws focused on preventing misuse are preferable to laws targeting specific technologies

Major priorities include addressing the digital divide, updating legislation to keep pace with technology, and balancing innovation with rights protection

Parliaments need to modernize and build capacity to effectively govern digital issues

The IGF needs to evolve to address emerging technologies beyond just internet governance

Resolutions and Action Items

Proposal to include a question about drafting a Minimum Code of Ethics in the post-Parliamentary Track survey

Encouragement for parliamentarians to attend next year’s IGF in Norway to participate in discussions about redefining the IGF for its 20th anniversary

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively regulate emerging technologies like quantum computing when many countries lack technical capacity

How to address geopolitical changes affecting internet governance and multilateralism

How to reduce brain drain while promoting regional cooperation

How to balance AI regulation between safety concerns and fostering innovation

Suggested Compromises

Using regulatory sandboxes to allow for flexible regulation of new technologies

Adopting technology-neutral laws that focus on preventing misuse rather than regulating specific technologies

Developing common standards and definitions for AI systems while allowing for some regional variation in implementation

We require the three levels. You need a regional national approach, you need a regional strategy and of course a continental world.

speaker

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

reason

This comment introduced a multi-layered approach to digital governance, highlighting the need for coordination at different levels.

impact

It set the tone for discussing the complexities of implementing digital governance across different geographic and political scales.

Sometimes when we say that, oh, the rate of buying data is $0.02, is $1, you may think it’s a little sum of money, but when it translates into African indigenous currency and the earning power of the citizens, you will know that even when it is available, it is not affordable.

speaker

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

reason

This insight highlighted the importance of considering local economic contexts when discussing digital access and affordability.

impact

It broadened the conversation to include economic disparities and their impact on digital inclusion.

We have passed also the Artificial Intelligence Act, as you know, the first world binding law on artificial intelligence that is aiming to reduce risk, create opportunities, combat discrimination and to bring transparency.

speaker

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

reason

This comment introduced the European Union’s pioneering approach to AI regulation.

impact

It sparked discussion about global AI governance and the potential for other regions to adopt similar approaches.

If you have a good relation, and if this relation is as much harmonized as possible, and the market is bigger, then it’s better at the end for business.

speaker

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

reason

This insight challenged the notion that regulation is always detrimental to business interests.

impact

It reframed the discussion around regulation as potentially beneficial for creating stable, harmonized markets.

We cannot leave the technology without legislation. But at the same time, we also don’t want to over-legislate so that you don’t kill innovation.

speaker

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

reason

This comment succinctly captured the central tension in regulating emerging technologies.

impact

It led to a nuanced discussion about balancing innovation and regulation in the digital sphere.

I think we need to make laws that are technology-neutral, but focus on the element we want to prevent.

speaker

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu

reason

This insight offered a practical approach to legislating rapidly evolving technologies.

impact

It shifted the conversation towards discussing principles-based regulation rather than technology-specific laws.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by highlighting the multi-faceted nature of digital governance challenges. They broadened the conversation from purely technical considerations to include economic, social, and regulatory dimensions. The comments also emphasized the need for flexible, principle-based approaches to regulation that can adapt to rapidly evolving technologies. Overall, these insights deepened the level of analysis and introduced greater complexity to the conversation, moving it beyond surface-level observations to more nuanced considerations of the global digital landscape.

How can we develop universal documents that will help countries at different levels set up correct strategies for digital governance?

speaker

Safar Alizoda

explanation

This is important to help countries at various stages of development create effective digital governance strategies based on best practices from more advanced countries.

What approaches can be taken to create ‘living laws’ or dynamic institutions that can keep pace with rapidly evolving technology?

speaker

Martin Yeza

explanation

This is crucial to ensure regulations remain relevant and effective in the face of fast-changing technological landscapes.

How can we balance the need for regulation with the importance of not stifling innovation in artificial intelligence?

speaker

Professor Saler Shomrani

explanation

This balance is critical to ensure responsible AI development while maintaining competitiveness and innovation.

Is it possible to create a global minimum code of ethics to guide actors operating with digital technologies?

speaker

Catherine Mumma

explanation

A global ethical framework could provide a baseline for responsible technology use across different countries and cultures.

How can we balance the focus between addressing large-scale AI safety concerns and managing everyday risks associated with AI use?

speaker

Audience member (unnamed)

explanation

This balance is important to ensure both global catastrophic risks and everyday impacts of AI are adequately addressed.

Are parliamentarians analyzing the implications of quantum computing in different geopolitical areas?

speaker

Audience member (unnamed Spanish-speaking professor)

explanation

Understanding the impact of quantum computing is crucial as it has the potential to revolutionize various fields and impact global power dynamics.

How can we develop international accords for disruptive technologies similar to the Bretton Woods agreements?

speaker

Martin Yeza

explanation

Such accords could help manage the global impact of emerging technologies and ensure more equitable development and use.

How can we address the technological divide between countries, particularly regarding access to advanced technologies like quantum computing?

speaker

Martin Yeza

explanation

This is important to ensure equitable global technological development and prevent widening gaps between nations.

How can educational curricula be updated to address the challenges posed by emerging technologies?

speaker

Martin Yeza

explanation

Updated education is crucial to prepare the workforce for future technological challenges and opportunities.

How can the IGF be evolved to address technologies beyond just the internet, such as quantum computing and AI?

speaker

Martin Yeza and Agustina Ordonez

explanation

Expanding the IGF’s scope is important to address the full range of emerging digital technologies and their governance challenges.

How can we rethink internet governance in light of rapidly changing geopolitical dynamics?

speaker

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

explanation

This is crucial to ensure internet governance remains effective and equitable in a changing global political landscape.

How can we develop non-stereotyping skills in digital literacy to address gender and other divides?

speaker

Lina Gálvez Muñoz

explanation

This is important to ensure that digital skills development does not reinforce existing societal inequalities.

How can we track and measure progress on implementing recommendations from IGF discussions?

speaker

Shuaib Afolabi Salisu and Safar Alizoda

explanation

This is important to ensure that IGF discussions lead to concrete actions and measurable improvements in internet governance.