Launch / Award Event #100 IGF 2023 in Kyoto – UN Conference in Internet Governance

Summary

This transcript covers a book launch event for a report on the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2023 held in Kyoto, Japan. The report, published by the SEEC Digital Research Institute Internet Governance Research Group, aims to document the event and raise awareness about IGF in Japan.

Junko Kawauchi presented the report’s contents, which include an introduction to IGF, details about the Kyoto event, and summaries of various sessions and activities. The 219-page, full-color report is available in Japanese as both a hard copy and a PDF download. It features pictures from the event and contributions from Japanese organizers.

Keisuke Kamimura explained that this unofficial report serves to encourage local Japanese community engagement in internet governance discussions. It provides a detailed record of the UN conference to help people understand IGF and internet governance better. The report also demonstrates multi-stakeholder collaboration in Japan’s internet governance context.

The presenters emphasized the report’s potential use as a reference for future IGF hosts and as an educational tool for young people through planned School on Internet Governance webinars. They highlighted the significant effort involved in creating the report, including collecting session summaries from various presenters and moderators.

Audience members praised the report’s usefulness for understanding IGF and suggested making it more widely accessible, potentially through the UN IGF website. The discussion concluded by encouraging future host countries to produce similar records of their IGF events to share knowledge and connect different stakeholder groups within the internet governance community.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– Introduction of a report booklet about IGF 2023 held in Kyoto, Japan

– Detailed overview of the report’s contents, including IGF history, conference details, and various sessions

– The purpose of creating the report to increase awareness about IGF in Japan

– The voluntary nature of the report and its role in encouraging local Japanese community engagement in internet governance

– The potential use of the report as a reference for future IGF host countries

Overall purpose:

The main goal of this discussion was to launch and present a comprehensive report about the IGF 2023 event held in Kyoto, Japan. The speakers aimed to highlight the importance of documenting such events to increase awareness, encourage local participation, and provide a valuable resource for future IGF hosts.

Tone:

The overall tone of the discussion was informative and enthusiastic. The speakers were eager to share details about the report and its potential impact. The tone remained consistent throughout the conversation, with a focus on presenting information and encouraging similar efforts in the future. There was also a sense of pride in the work accomplished and its potential benefits for the internet governance community.

Speakers

Speakers from the provided list:

– Keisuke Kamimura, Professor at Daito Bunkai University, Tokyo, Japan

Expertise: Member of the SEEC Digital Research Institute Internet Governance Research Group

– Junko Kawauchi, Secretariat for the research group

Additional speakers:

– Tanaka, Attendee from Tokyo, Japan

– Unnamed attendee, Asked about the effort spent on preparing the report

The book launch event for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2023 report, held in Kyoto, Japan, featured a comprehensive discussion on the importance of documenting and sharing knowledge about internet governance. The primary speakers, Junko Kawauchi and Keisuke Kamimura, presented a detailed overview of the report’s contents and its significance for raising awareness about IGF in Japan.

Report Contents and Purpose

Junko Kawauchi, the Secretariat for the research group, introduced the 219-page, full-colour, A4-size report published by the SEEC Digital Research Institute Internet Governance Research Group. The report, available in Japanese as both a hard copy (700 printed) and a PDF download, includes:

1. History of IGF

2. Domestic activities related to IGF and NRIs

3. Detailed outline of IGF 2023 sessions (opening ceremony, high-level leaders meeting, main sessions, NRIs, policy networks, etc.)

4. Reports from Japanese organizers about their sessions

5. Youth sessions, open mic, taking stock, and closing ceremony

6. Pictures from the event, including cultural elements like fireworks, music night, kimono costumes, and tea ceremony

Keisuke Kamimura, a Professor at Daito Bunkai University and member of the research group, emphasised that this unofficial report serves multiple purposes:

1. Encouraging local Japanese community engagement in internet governance discussions

2. Providing a detailed record of the UN conference

3. Helping people understand IGF and internet governance better

4. Demonstrating multi-stakeholder collaboration in Japan’s internet governance context

While not an official document from the Ministry of Information Affairs, the report includes introductory messages from them. The speakers highlighted its potential use as a reference for future IGF hosts and as an educational tool for young people through planned School on Internet Governance webinars.

Collaborative Nature and Effort

Both Kawauchi and Kamimura stressed the collaborative nature of the report, involving various stakeholders including government, civil society, and industry. They highlighted the considerable effort involved in producing the report, with Kamimura noting it took “thousands of human work hours,” including collecting session summaries from various presenters and moderators.

Distribution and Accessibility

The report’s distribution plans were discussed, with Kawauchi mentioning that free copies would be available at various events, including the Japanese IGF. The PDF version will be accessible for download on the SEEC website.

An attendee named Tanaka suggested making the report more widely accessible, potentially through the UN IGF website. This proposal was seen as a way to amplify the report’s impact and usefulness on a global scale, particularly for future host countries researching IGF best practices. Tanaka also noted that while the report is currently only in Japanese, translation engines could help make it accessible to non-Japanese speakers, broadening its potential impact.

Connecting Stakeholders

Kamimura highlighted an additional benefit of creating the report: fostering connections within the local internet governance community. He noted that the report helps connect different groups who had sessions at the IGF, preventing them from becoming disconnected or isolated.

Future Implications

The discussion concluded with encouragement for future host countries to produce similar records of their IGF events. Kamimura specifically emphasized the importance of keeping such records, seeing it as a way to share knowledge and connect different stakeholder groups within the internet governance community globally.

Overall, the speakers demonstrated a high level of consensus regarding the purpose and value of the report. The discussion was primarily informative, focusing on presenting the IGF 2023 report booklet and its potential impact on raising awareness about internet governance in Japan and beyond.

Keisuke Kamimura: event. This is a book launch event. We prepared a report booklet from the IGF 2023 last year in Kyoto. So this session is meant to present you with the guidelines of this booklet and the activity that we had behind the publication. My name is Keisuke Kamimura. I’m a professor at Daito Bunkai University based in Tokyo, Japan. But today, I am speaking in the capacity of one of the members of the SEEC, Digital Research Institute Internet Governance Research Group. SEEC stands for the Center for International Cooperation. At the end of the session, we have some free copies of this booklet. So if you are interested, please take one for yourself. I will be joined by Ms. Kawauchi. She is the secretariat for the research group and she will give us a detailed outline of this booklet. Kawauchi-san, please.

Junko Kawauchi: Hello. Can you hear me? Okay. So, yeah. Okay. I will explain about the report. As you know, Japan hosted the IGF 2023 in Kyoto last year in October. And actually, it was the maybe we won’t host for many years in the future, so it was a very important event for us. So, we decided to make a report. And actually, in Japan, not many people know about the IGF. So, we want many Japanese people know about the IGF because IGF is very important for the digital society. So, that is the objective of this report. Actually, this report is a hard copy. It’s A4 size and full color. You see the full color with the pictures and 219 pages. And we published, actually, it takes a bit of time and we published it in September this year. And I will go to the next. Okay. And this is the table of the content. Actually, the report is only in Japanese. So, but I put the translation here. The first is the introduction and the next is about the IGF because many people don’t know about the IGF itself. So, we explained about IGF, the history, and the visas in 2005 and 2006 in Tunisia and Geneva. And also, we explained about the domestic activities related to IGF and the NRIs and something like that. Also, we have 5, 6 members of this IGF research group members. So, we asked them to write about the IGF. And the third one is about the IGF 2023 in Kyoto. The overall outline is the conference details and the outline of the sessions and also the like opening ceremony, high-level leaders meeting, or the main sessions, NRIs, policy networks, and overview by sub-teams, and day zero workshops, town halls, open forums, and something like that. And also, the parliamentary track and leadership panel, best practice forum, and dynamic coalitions, and something. We made a brief introduction of those sessions. And also, it was held in Japan, so many Japanese organizers’ sessions in 2023. So, we asked those Japanese organizers to write a report about their sessions. Also, the youth sessions or the open mic taking stock and closing ceremony. So, that is the table of contents. Actually, this is the details of the contents, so I will skip it. And this is some pictures from the Kyoto 2023 IGFs. Maybe if you attended the Kyoto IGF, you maybe remember some of the pictures. Yeah, we had the fireworks or the music night, and yeah, something like that. Another picture is the kimono costumes, or the tea ceremony in Japanese, and something like that. So, we We made a hard copy, 700 hard copies printed. There are some here also, I don’t know where is it. And also it is available in the PDA format. You can find it, you can download it free from the website here. Actually, this is only in Japanese, so please note. And also we utilized this report for the School on Internet Governance webinar. We are planning to organize a SIG webinar and use this report as a reference book so that the many, especially the young people, university students, college students know about the IGF in Japan. It is important activity, we think. So this is the last. Actually, we organized the Japanese IGF in November in Tokyo. And we distributed the hard copies there. Actually, the red circle, it is very small, but in the red circle we put the free copies there and many people took it, take it back if they like. So we utilized this report and we are thinking to utilize this report as much as possible so that the IGF’s importance, we want many Japanese people to know about the importance of IGF. Yeah, that’s it. Thank you very much. Any questions?

Keisuke Kamimura: Thank you, Ms. Kawaguchi. Thank you, Kawaguchi-san. Did you hear? Hello? Okay. Thank you, Kawaguchi-san. Let me add some comment to her presentation. This is not an official report by the Ministry of Information Affairs in Japan. This is more of a voluntary or unofficial report. Why did we do this? Hello? Okay. Why did we do this? Because we always have a problem when we try to encourage local Japanese community to be engaged in internet governance or local internet governance forum in Japan. And we are always asked what the internet governance forum is or what internet governance is about. So we try to keep the recording of the UN conference as detailed as possible so that when we try to encourage local Japanese community to be engaged in the internet governance dialogue, they will have a better understanding or a better idea of what the IGF is or what internet governance is about. So that’s one thing. And we also wanted other host countries to produce their version of reporting of the IGF that will be held locally so that will be a good thing. So that’s the reason why we did this. I mentioned that we tried to be as precise as possible, but we did not mean to be fully precise. Because if you go to the IGF website, you have a comprehensive recording of the meetings in the IGF. So we tried to highlight what was discussed or what was important in the IGF 2023. So that’s the concept behind. And as I mentioned, this is not an official report, but we have some opening or introductory messages from the Ministry of Information Affairs. So in a way, this report demonstrates the collaboration or combination between the civil society, business, the industry, and the government. Multi-stakeholder collaboration that is taking place in Japan’s internet governance context. So this is my additional comment on this booklet. So if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to do so. Can you give the audience the microphone? Thank you for the presentation. Can you hear me? So I’m Tanaka, also from Tokyo, Japan. I joined Kyoto IGF 2023, so it’s a very impressive event. So I think that in this event, there should be somebody thinking about introducing or inviting IGF to their country. So in this sense, this book is very useful to understand what is IGF. And also, so many pictures made me very helpful to understand the event mood. So while it’s only in Japanese, but at this time, the translation engine can help to translate each country’s language. So my comment and question is, there is a link to this PDF file in your CFIEC website, right? How about, I’m not sure the organization of IGF itself, maybe IGF headquarter website should have a link to this PDF. So because potential in future hosting country may be research. what is the IGF, what is the key success factor of this event at that time. I believe this book is very helpful to understand and encourage so many affiliated people to join a future IGF, I think. This is my comment. Thank you. Thank you very much. At this point of time, we don’t have a link to this report from the UN IGF website, no. Thank you very much anyway. Any other comments? Yes, please. Could you tell how much time was spent on preparing this report? What was an effort? To create this astonishing book? Well, actually quite a lot. Well, maybe there is thousands of human work hours or something like that. Maybe she’s the lady behind the whole work, so she will be probably better positioned to answer your question. Actually, it took quite a time, actually. Sorry. So, I spent no time to take this book, but I heard the key is a short report after each session. So, she runs all sessions at Kyoto, so some write a very good report, but some are absent, no report of that session. So, very important thing is that each presenter or facilitator, moderator should leave some report, what happened, what is the future like that. So, it’s very helpful to make this report. Sorry, I had no job, but I heard from her that comment. Thank you. Another point of beauty that we have this report is that we can connect each group who had a session at the IGF. Otherwise, session groups are disconnected or isolated. So, having this booklet or having this effort to produce this booklet will be one of the opportunities for the Japanese local community to get together and to see or understand what other stakeholder or other group is doing during and before the IGF. Yes, that’s the point. So, as I mentioned, this session is more of a book launch, and we encourage that other stakeholders in the future host countries will do some way or the other, try some way or the other, keep the recording of the conference that you will have so that we can share the knowledge afterwards. So, if you don’t have further questions or comments, thank you very much. Thank you for coming, and thank you for joining this launch event. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Agreement Points

Importance of the IGF 2023 Report Booklet

Junko Kawauchi

Keisuke Kamimura

Purpose of the report

Contents of the report

Unofficial nature and collaborative effort

Both speakers agree on the significance of creating a comprehensive report about IGF 2023 to raise awareness and encourage engagement in internet governance discussions in Japan.

Raising awareness about IGF in Japan

Junko Kawauchi

Keisuke Kamimura

Raising awareness in Japan

Encouraging local engagement

The speakers emphasize the importance of informing Japanese people, especially young people, about IGF and internet governance to increase local engagement.

Similar Viewpoints

The report serves as a valuable resource for understanding IGF and its importance, both for the Japanese community and potential future host countries.

Junko Kawauchi

Keisuke Kamimura

Masanobu Katoh

Contents of the report

Encouraging local engagement

Usefulness for future host countries

Unexpected Consensus

Collaborative nature of the report

Keisuke Kamimura

Junko Kawauchi

Unofficial nature and collaborative effort

Publication process and format

Despite being an unofficial report, there is an unexpected consensus on its collaborative nature, involving various stakeholders including government, civil society, and industry. This demonstrates a multi-stakeholder approach to internet governance in Japan.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement revolve around the importance of the IGF 2023 Report Booklet in raising awareness about internet governance in Japan, encouraging local engagement, and serving as a resource for future host countries.

Consensus level

There is a high level of consensus among the speakers regarding the purpose and value of the report. This strong agreement implies a unified approach to promoting internet governance understanding in Japan and potentially influencing future IGF events globally.

Different Viewpoints

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

No significant areas of disagreement were identified in the discussion.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among speakers appears to be minimal to non-existent. The discussion was primarily informative, focusing on presenting the IGF 2023 report booklet and its purpose. This lack of disagreement suggests a unified approach to raising awareness about IGF in Japan and potentially encouraging other countries to create similar reports for future IGF events.

Partial Agreements

Similar Viewpoints

The report serves as a valuable resource for understanding IGF and its importance, both for the Japanese community and potential future host countries.

Junko Kawauchi

Keisuke Kamimura

Masanobu Katoh

Contents of the report

Encouraging local engagement

Usefulness for future host countries

Key Takeaways

A comprehensive report booklet on IGF 2023 in Kyoto was created and published in Japanese

The report aims to raise awareness about IGF and internet governance in Japan

The booklet is a collaborative effort between civil society, business, and government

The report serves as a valuable resource for future IGF host countries

Creating such reports can help connect different groups involved in IGF sessions

Resolutions and Action Items

Distribute free copies of the report booklet at various events

Make the PDF version of the report available for download on the SEEC website

Use the report as a reference book for School on Internet Governance webinars

Encourage future IGF host countries to produce similar reports

Unresolved Issues

Potential inclusion of a link to the PDF report on the official IGF website

Possibility of translating the report into other languages

Suggested Compromises

None identified

This is not an official report by the Ministry of Information Affairs in Japan. This is more of a voluntary or unofficial report.

speaker

Keisuke Kamimura

reason

This comment is insightful because it clarifies the nature of the report, highlighting that it’s a grassroots effort rather than a government-mandated document. This distinction is important for understanding the report’s context and purpose.

impact

This comment shifted the perspective on the report, emphasizing its community-driven nature and potentially increasing its perceived value as a genuine reflection of the IGF experience.

We try to keep the recording of the UN conference as detailed as possible so that when we try to encourage local Japanese community to be engaged in the internet governance dialogue, they will have a better understanding or a better idea of what the IGF is or what internet governance is about.

speaker

Keisuke Kamimura

reason

This comment provides crucial insight into the purpose and intended impact of the report. It reveals a strategic approach to increasing local engagement in internet governance.

impact

This explanation deepened the conversation by highlighting the educational and outreach goals of the report, potentially inspiring others to consider similar approaches in their countries.

So while it’s only in Japanese, but at this time, the translation engine can help to translate each country’s language.

speaker

Tanaka

reason

This comment introduces a practical solution to the language barrier, suggesting that the report’s usefulness extends beyond Japanese-speaking audiences.

impact

This observation broadened the perceived accessibility and potential impact of the report, potentially encouraging its wider distribution and use.

How about, I’m not sure the organization of IGF itself, maybe IGF headquarter website should have a link to this PDF. So because potential in future hosting country may be research what is the IGF, what is the key success factor of this event at that time.

speaker

Tanaka

reason

This suggestion is insightful as it proposes a way to amplify the report’s impact and usefulness on a global scale.

impact

This comment shifted the discussion towards considering broader dissemination strategies and the potential for the report to serve as a model for future IGF hosts.

Another point of beauty that we have this report is that we can connect each group who had a session at the IGF. Otherwise, session groups are disconnected or isolated.

speaker

Keisuke Kamimura

reason

This comment reveals an additional, perhaps unintended, benefit of creating the report – fostering connections within the local internet governance community.

impact

This observation deepened the conversation by highlighting the report’s role in community building, beyond its informational content.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by progressively revealing the multifaceted value of the IGF 2023 report. The conversation evolved from a simple presentation of the report’s contents to a rich exploration of its purpose, potential impact, and broader implications for community engagement in internet governance. The comments highlighted the report’s role in education, outreach, community building, and as a potential model for future IGF hosts. This discussion underscored the importance of documenting and sharing experiences from international forums to foster local engagement and global understanding.

How can other host countries be encouraged to produce their own version of reporting on the IGF?

speaker

Keisuke Kamimura

explanation

This is important to create a comprehensive record of IGF events across different host countries and to share knowledge and experiences.

How can the IGF report be made accessible to non-Japanese speakers?

speaker

Tanaka

explanation

While the report is currently only in Japanese, making it accessible to a wider audience could help potential future host countries understand and prepare for hosting an IGF event.

Should the UN IGF website include a link to this report and similar reports from other host countries?

speaker

Tanaka

explanation

This could provide valuable resources for future host countries and researchers interested in understanding the key success factors of IGF events.

How can the process of collecting session reports be improved to ensure comprehensive coverage of all sessions?

speaker

Junko Kawauchi (indirectly, through another participant’s comment)

explanation

Ensuring that all presenters, facilitators, and moderators provide reports on their sessions would improve the completeness and value of the overall IGF report.

How can the creation of such reports be used to better connect different groups who had sessions at the IGF?

speaker

Keisuke Kamimura

explanation

This is important for fostering collaboration and understanding between different stakeholders in the local internet governance community.