WS #214 Youth-Led Digital Futures: Integrating Perspectives and Governance

Summary

This discussion focused on youth-led digital futures, data cooperatives, and the Global Digital Compact (GDC). Participants explored how to engage youth in digital governance and innovation across different global regions. Key challenges identified included lack of funding, limited youth representation in decision-making processes, and the need for better digital literacy and skills development, especially in Africa and Latin America.

Speakers emphasized the importance of recognizing youth as a distinct stakeholder group in internet governance. They discussed the potential of data cooperatives to empower communities and promote equitable data usage, while highlighting barriers such as high costs of data collection and lack of regulatory frameworks. The conversation touched on the unique challenges faced by indigenous communities regarding data protection and access.

The Global Digital Compact was presented as a timely initiative to address digital inequalities and promote inclusive participation. Participants stressed the need for grassroots-level implementation and harmonization between global and regional efforts. The discussion also covered the importance of adapting education systems to prepare youth for the digital economy and future of work.

Speakers shared various initiatives and best practices for youth engagement, including school outreach programs and local innovation projects. They emphasized the need for continuous efforts to involve younger generations in digital governance discussions and to make these topics more accessible and relevant to youth. The discussion concluded with a call for more opportunities for youth to develop their own innovations and technologies, particularly in marginalized communities.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The need for data cooperatives and digital governance frameworks that prioritize youth leadership and participation

– Challenges in funding and resourcing youth-led digital initiatives

– The importance of including youth as a distinct stakeholder group in internet governance

– Implementation of the Global Digital Compact and its potential impact on digital inclusion

– Barriers to youth participation such as lack of digital skills and access in some regions

The overall purpose of the discussion was to explore how youth can be more effectively engaged in digital governance and data/digital cooperative initiatives, particularly in the context of the Global Digital Compact.

The tone of the discussion was largely constructive and solution-oriented, with speakers offering insights from different regional perspectives. There was a sense of urgency around the need to better include youth voices, but also optimism about youth-led initiatives already underway. The tone became more action-oriented towards the end as speakers discussed concrete steps to improve youth participation.

Speakers

– Dana Cramer: Leader of Youth IGF Canada, 2024 Internet Society Youth Ambassador

– Natalie Tercova: Representative of IGF Czechia, member of ALAG within ICANN, researcher

– Denise Leal: Latin American Caribbean representative in the youth coalition

– Tabitha Wangechi: Online participant

– Turra Daniele: Youth IGF Italy, online moderator

– James Amate: Speaker from Ghana

– Keith Andere: African Civil Society Group, IGFR leader for Kenya Youth IGF

– Vlad Ivanets: Internet Society Youth Ambassador, session organizer

Additional speakers:

– Gael Van Weyenbergh: Session organizer

– Sienna: Audience member from United States

– Lina: Audience member, works with Council on Tech and Social Cohesion

– Aaron: Rapporteur (mentioned but did not speak)

Youth-Led Digital Futures: Exploring Data Cooperatives and the Global Digital Compact

This comprehensive discussion brought together youth leaders and representatives from various global regions to explore critical issues surrounding youth engagement in digital governance, data cooperatives, and the implementation of the Global Digital Compact (GDC). The session was structured around introductions of speakers, followed by focused blocks of questions addressing different aspects of digital futures.

Key Themes and Discussion Points:

1. Data Cooperatives and Digital Innovation

Dana Cramer introduced the concept of data cooperatives as a model for empowering communities and promoting equitable data usage. Data cooperatives were described as member-owned, member-controlled organizations that collect, process, and share data for the benefit of their members and communities.

James Amate, from Ghana, highlighted the challenges in implementing data cooperatives, particularly in developing regions. He emphasized the high costs associated with data collection and the need for community support, advocating for an open data model where stakeholders have a vested interest in data quality and production.

Denise Leal, representing Latin America and the Caribbean, stressed the importance of considering traditional communities in data regulations. She shared an example of a successful initiative from Brazil called the Local Innovation Agent programme, which implements innovation at the local level. Leal also highlighted the significance of community networks in bridging digital divides.

Tabitha Wangechi, an online participant, emphasized the need for fair compensation models for data collection, stating, “We need real data from real people, bringing members together, pulling data together, defining these revenue models that work for us, that make people trust that they can give their data and be compensated.”

2. Youth Engagement in Digital Governance

A central theme of the discussion was the importance of recognizing youth as a distinct stakeholder group in internet governance. Keith Andere, representing the African Civil Society Group, emphasized the need to institutionalize youth engagement beyond individual initiatives. He cited the African IGF’s efforts to ensure youth have a dedicated seat as stakeholders, highlighting the importance of sustained representation.

Andere also pointed out the mismatch between university education and job market needs in Africa, calling for more relevant digital skills training.

Natalia Tercova, from IGF Czechia, stressed the need for robust educational frameworks on digital literacy. She argued that current curricula, from elementary to university levels, lack comprehensive digital skills training, including media literacy and programming. Tercova suggested engaging youth through schools and workshops to increase participation in digital governance discussions.

The discussion also touched on the challenges of maintaining youth engagement as participants age out of initiatives. Speakers emphasized the need for continuously involving younger generations and developing sustainable models for youth participation.

3. Global Digital Compact and Regional Approaches

Vlad Ivanets, an Internet Society Youth Ambassador, initiated the discussion on the Global Digital Compact (GDC), presenting it as a timely initiative to address digital inequalities and promote inclusive participation. Speakers emphasized the need for careful implementation, particularly at the grassroots level.

Keith Andere stressed the importance of harmonization between UN initiatives and regional bodies like the African Union. He argued for a balance between innovation and regulation for emerging technologies, particularly in the African context.

Ivanets highlighted the opportunity for the African region to be active in the digital economy. This sentiment was echoed by other speakers who emphasized the need for regional approaches to digital governance within global frameworks.

4. Challenges and Opportunities

Throughout the discussion, several key challenges were identified:

– Lack of funding and resources for youth-led digital initiatives

– Limited youth representation in decision-making processes

– Need for better digital literacy and skills development, especially in Africa and Latin America

– High costs of data collection and lack of regulatory frameworks for data cooperatives

– Balancing innovation with regulation for emerging technologies

– Outdated employment laws that don’t protect digital-era workers

Despite these challenges, speakers also highlighted opportunities and potential solutions:

– Engaging youth directly through schools and local initiatives

– Developing more inclusive funding models for youth-led digital initiatives

– Implementing technological education to enable innovation among youth and marginalized groups

– Creating regional data cooperatives that balance local needs with broader policy frameworks

– Developing hybrid models of youth engagement that combine institutional support with grassroots initiatives

Audience Questions and Closing Remarks

The session concluded with audience questions addressing topics such as:

– Strategies for reducing duplication of efforts in data collection and solution development

– Practical implementation of data cooperatives for non-tech-savvy individuals

– Understanding funder priorities for supporting data cooperatives

– Ensuring grassroots-level input in the Global Digital Compact stakeholder consultation process

In her closing remarks, Denise Leal emphasized the importance of involving teens and marginalized groups in innovation and technology development, calling for more opportunities for youth to develop their own solutions.

Conclusion

The discussion highlighted the complex and multifaceted nature of youth engagement in digital governance, data cooperatives, and the implementation of the Global Digital Compact. It underscored the need for continued dialogue, action, and innovative approaches to address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, with a particular focus on developing regions and marginalized communities.

Dana Cramer: introductions from each speaker. We will then move into an overview of digital or data cooperatives and what they are. They are a new policy innovation idea. So we’ll be exploring that. Then we’ll begin working through the questions I just read, but as blocks, as in these different separated blocks, we’ll then invite a room participation for feedback so that we can have that ongoing conversation throughout this session. To that, I’m going to give the mic over to Natalie to introduce yourself.

Natalie Tercova: Thank you so much, Dana. I hope everyone can hear me well. Thank you so much. So my name is Natalia Tercheva. I am here as the representative of the IGF Czechia, but I also work as a member of ALAG within ICANN and I’m a researcher as part of my day job. And recently I’ve been following some of the youth initiative, not only in my region, but also global ones, fostering some forms of events or cooperation through workshops and events. So I hope that today we can all share some of our insights, maybe challenges we were facing and what next steps we can all take to improve these forms of initiatives and gathering to empower the youth as equal stakeholders in the internet governance ecosystem. Thank you for having me. Thank you very much.

Dana Cramer: Denise, we’ll flip over to you online if you wouldn’t mind giving an introduction of yourself.

Denise Leal: Hello everyone. I hope everyone is okay and hearing me well.

Dana Cramer: We can hear you.

Denise Leal: Thank you. I am happy for being here today, sharing a little bit about youth-led digital futures. This discussion is going to be very interesting and we are going to not only talk about youth and digital innovation, but also marginalized people, global south. And I am very excited because of these thematics. I am the Latin American Caribbean representative in the youth coalition and I… Hope to share a little bit about these topics and I hope you enjoy it.

Dana Cramer: Thank you very much. And we especially thank you for battling time zones to be with us here this morning, but I think it’s quite late for you over there right now. Wonderful. Tabitha, would you like to introduce yourself. I think that as we wait for some participation. Daniele, you’re not a speaker, you’re an online moderator, but would you like to say hi just so that our room understands your role in this session.

Turra Daniele: Hi everybody. This is Daniele Tura from Youth IGF Italy. I’ll be moderating the sessions today. So even if you are here on site or online wherever you’re connecting from, please feel free to use the chat so that we can better engage if you have any thoughts, comments or questions. I’ll be here to make those inputs heard here on the panel. Thank you.

Dana Cramer: Thank you very much. And we also have our organizers. I’d like to recognize Vlad who’s on the stage.

Vlad Ivanets: Yeah, it works. My name is Vlad Ivanets. I’m this year Internet Society Youth Ambassador and actually I was working on preparation of this session. We actually planned to cover some important issues with the emergence of the Global Digital Compact, which is a big thing I think and everyone is talking about this on this event and I hope we will be able to cover some perspectives that it brings with it, but also we have a few more topics to focus on and I hope that our speakers will be able to cover them as well.

Dana Cramer: Wonderful. Thank you very much and I just want to recognize Gail as our organizer for this session and our rapporteur which is Aaron to the end if you want to give a wave Aaron just as rapporteur. Wonderful. So, thank you so much. So, we’re going to start with our data cooperatives or digital cooperative section. And I’ll be introducing that. Again, my name is Dana Kramer. I am from Canada. I lead an organization called Youth IGF Canada and I’m a 2024 Internet Society Youth Ambassador as well as my purpose for being here this week. So, data cooperatives are a type of data intermediary that leverages the longstanding cooperative model to manage data for the benefit of its members who are both data producers and stakeholders. Rooted in democratic governance, collective ownership, and fiduciary accountability, data cooperatives empower individuals and communities to enhance privacy by ensuring the data usage aligns with member-defined rules, to improve insight and foresight capabilities, enabling a larger pool of stakeholders to innovate with shared data resources, foster equitable data usage, ensuring fair distribution of value among members, and unleash a new wave of innovation by creating transparent data flows that can be leveraged for research, development, and societal good. So, data cooperatives are more of an idea. They are not widely in practice. However, some historical parallels and relevance to these cooperative models include trade unions and cooperative banks. So, during the industrial era, these institutions redistributed power and resources, creating more equitable systems. Data cooperatives today, similarly in the digital economy, these cooperatives balance individual and collective interests, addressing the monopolistic tendencies of centralized platforms and the pitfalls of tokenized economies that we do tend to see as an issue of concentration within network effects. So, by aligning with different types of cooperative alliance principles, including democratic member control and concern for community, data cooperatives provide a resilient framework for addressing digital inequalities. And this brings us to the first question that we will address today as a panel. Oh, and we have James online. So James, if you wouldn’t mind un-muting yourself so you can give an introduction as our final speaker for this panel.

James Amate: Hi. Thank you very much. Took me some time to set up. I am James Amate. I am speaking from Ghana. I am joining this session where we operate on a more, let’s say, open data, open governance level. But I’m speaking in my personal capacity by using that experience to bring a new perspective to this conversation. So I do hope that we do have a very nice conversation around global digital compacts and then data competence. Thank you.

Dana Cramer: Thank you. Thank you very much. So we’ll be starting with our first question, which is, what governance frameworks are needed to support the successful propagation of youth-initiated digital or data cooperatives across various global contexts? And how can global institutions champion these initiatives? So some sub-questions that we’ll be working through as we explore this broad policy question will begin with, where do you think youth are building up digital networks in your respective region? And Natalie, I’ll start with you as our in-person speaker.

Natalie Tercova: Thank you so much, Dana. So for the context, as I mentioned, I’m here representing the IGF in Czech Republic, which is looking at… in Central Europe. So of course in my region we are facing some very specific issues and challenges that might not have been the same in other regions and in other countries. And currently the main topic for what we see is the issue of digital divide but not on the first level which might be the access or the access to technologies in terms of laptops, devices, but also to be connected when it comes to Wi-Fi connection and Internet coverage. But more focusing on the lack of skills when it comes to the effective usage of technologies. We currently lack some robust frameworks when it comes to education, educating young people in terms of media literacy, digital literacy, championing skills such as programming and so forth. These things are not yet embedded within the curricula through the educational system from elementary, spanning universities, schools. And this is something that we currently see as a big challenge that we have to overcome in a way. Because only thanks to this then we can see the youth initiatives specifically in the area of Internet governance and in digital, let’s say in the digital discussions in general, really thrive and make a difference. So this would be currently the biggest challenge we are seeing. However, there is a big emphasis on making this happen. There are already some initiatives from companies, companies that are operating on a global level, but also those who emerged directly in the Czech Republic, trying to champion the skills in young people, trying to offer them some forms of fellowships and programs. The education system is not offering these forms of solutions. So we can see that they are trying to learn, they are trying to improve this. However, we still miss some form of a robust framework to make this happen. This would be probably my opening. statement to this. Thank you.

Dana Cramer: Wonderful, thank you. I think what I’m hearing from you is the importance of organization and a recognition of multi stakeholders coming together to really champion these so that it can become more institutionalized. And to that, I will ask Denise, in your region, what are some examples of global institutions championing youth initiatives? So building off what Natalie was saying of that importance, what do you see in your area for how this is actually playing out?

Denise Leal: Okay, perfect. So it’s very interesting when we bring the topic of data across Latin America, specifically because we need to improve a lot. We do have the legislation and well, we are signatories for the treats that brings these discussions but we don’t consider the specific traditional communities when we start to discuss the regulations. So the biggest improvement that we would need to work with would be how we consider traditional knowledge and the data that comes from these communities in terms of natural resources and genetic data and how we do protect and consider the sovereignty of these groups. Because in reality, we are not really we are not in fact considering their sovereignty in terms of data here in Latin America and Caribbean region. We need to improve this but as a good topic to our discussion, not only a call to action, I would like to say that in terms of innovation, we do have some work on it across Latin America and Caribbean. I can say about a program from Brazil called Local Innovation Agent, who works bringing innovation and implementing it in a local level, which I think is very interesting and impactful. Well, I have a lot to say about the topic, but to start, I think these two discussions could be interesting. The local innovation is important and this specific program is implemented by government and private sector together, so it can really have a impact on different people. And the interesting part of it is that it works with people who doesn’t know in ESG and data framework and data collection, and we start to teach them through this project. So I will stop here because I think it’s just a small talk right now, and then I will speak more on these topics. Thank you.

Dana Cramer: Thank you very much, Denise. That’s wonderful. James, what types of opportunities do you think other stakeholder groups can help build up digital or data cooperatives in your region specifically? So we get kind of that starting with Europe, moving to Latin America, and then hearing the African perspective as well. Or you’re muted right now. You need to unmute. Happens to all of us.

James Amate: All right, so thank you very much for that question. I’m going to speak from the African perspective. So in Africa, the data gap is very wide. So there’s a huge discrepancy between the data we need, the data we collect. and then the data we are allowed to share, right. Now there’s challenges in collecting the data that makes it difficult to share or there’s always these very rigid frameworks about how data is collected, how data is shared. Now I come from a community background where we do a lot of community-led initiatives. So for example, I sometimes contribute to Wikipedia and in that space, it’s a community-driven approach where members of the community come together to collect data on specific topics. It’s the same with the OpenStreetMap Foundation and the OpenStreetMap community where we are constantly contributing to a particular data source. Now we need to be able to understand what the data harmonization processes are, how do we collect the data, how do we validate the data and also where is it going to be stored and who has access to it. Because I do a lot of open data, I strongly advocate for an open data and open governance model where everybody has a stake in the data because the more people have a stake, the more we are likely to increase the quality of the data we produce and then the more useful the data becomes to everybody. Because when we take a look at my work with the OpenStreetMap community, we can see that the data we collect has various advantages and uses for humanitarian organizations, inversion, flood detection and we also do a lot of of disaster response with that data. So you could see that because the community came together to produce that data, it becomes more meaningful and people are more passionate about it. So I personally advocate for an open data model where you have a stake in the data and the quality of producers. Thank you.

Dana Cramer: Thanks for really highlighting that importance to ownership of data, as well as the peer production model. And with a very concrete example with Wikipedia as well. Keith, thank you for making it here today. I’m not sure if you would like to introduce yourself and potentially discuss how digital and data cooperatives are working in your region and being championed by youth. Keith, are you able to hear me on the headset? Okay. As we continue to sort out a few technical difficulties, the digital and data cooperatives have been the first block that we’ve had to really think more on a theoretical level for these youth-led futures. And we’d like to invite the audience for any questions and Gail will be able to run the mic around the room to help ensure that we have, again, that peer production in how we understand too. So if you have a question or would like to provide any form of intervention that can help formulate our report, we ask you to raise your hand so that we can get a microphone to you.

Audience: Thank you for this. My name is Lina, and I work with the Council on Tech and Social Cohesion. And my question is, what actually needs to change? Is there a policy or is there a way for cooperatives to come into existence? Like, is there a barrier that you need to overcome? Because the idea itself clearly has value.

Dana Cramer: Thank you very much for your question. Kies, I’m not sure if you would like to start that off, as well, to introduce yourself for the panel, so you can get that conversation rolling.

Keith Andere: Thanks so much. Sincere apologies, one, that I came late. I forgot my badge, so I had to go and look for another one. And then when I got in, I think I tuned to Channel 1, and I was looking and feeling lost, because there was another sound that seemed like it was off. But nonetheless, I’m happy to be here. Thank you so much for accommodating me and for the organizers putting this together. My name is Keith Andere from Kenya African Civil Society Group, an IGFR leader for Kenya Youth IGF. And so very pleased to be here today and to contribute to the discussions that are very pertinent, especially for us from Global South. Because now this speaks to, one, I come from a continent where it is believed to be the most youthful continent. And so the issues of data, the issues of digital future, the issue of privacy are things that are very dear to the youthful population from Africa. And I believe, you know, not only just to the Global South, but to the rest of the world. And so, as I said, I’m happy to take up the questions and contribute. Thank you.

Dana Cramer: Thank you very much. So for our first question from Lina, what types of policy or business models will need to change to allow for data and digital cooperatives to potentially flourish in our online environment?

Keith Andere: Super, that is a very fantastic question. So I think, and again, my reflections are going to largely come from Africa, at least where I come from. You’ll find that even before we get to the level of data cooperatives and policies, we are still grappling with very basic fundamental policies, of data privacy and data protection. We’re also seeing a lot of gaps in terms of harmonizations between countries, because the policy, for example, in one country is not speaking to the other, and therefore there’s a little of gap. So we see this as a challenge when it comes to things like data flow, where data is hosted, where data is resting in Africa, for example. Now pushing for Agenda 2063, which is anchored on what we are calling the Africa Free Continental Trade Area. So making Africa one trading block. So the opportunity there is the digital economy and the digital businesses, but then these barriers are a hindrance in terms of how do we govern our data? And this data is data that, one, being produced by businesses, two, data that are sitting either from government and these are all manner of data, be it biometric, be it IRS, be it all this manner of data. And so the kind of policies that would unlock this, I think, are more regional policies, as opposed to national policies, so that this creates an even playing ground to ensure that cross-border data flow, ensure that data for citizens who are moving from one country, data portability. is something that we can plug in and we can use, but at the same time ensure that this data from a regional perspective is already harmonized. I think EU and the global North is already doing very well in terms of data harmonization and the policy that are being harmonized from an EU level and the rest, but Africa is lacking behind as far as this harmonization is concerned, but we also need to strengthen and back up this data protection kind of laws with security kind of laws that in, whether transnational crime also is something that can be covered because data is, as they say, is the, you know, the currency is the 21st oil, century oil, you know? So how do we take it as the only asset, you know, that can drive economies to the future? So just to answer the question again, I think the point here is harmonization, not only at a national level, but at regional level, and also how do we support countries that do not have resources to put out this kind of data, be it technical resources, be it financial resources, because that for me is still a big challenge right now. Thank you.

Dana Cramer: No, thank you very much. And I think that teasing out your answer is the importance of regionalism within data and digital cooperatives of recognizing yourself as part of a broader block. And in a current geopolitical competition that’s rising and creating less free trade, where you get such innovative free trade agreements that you see in the European Union as well, now in the African Union, that that could be a disruptor for it. So now resting back in that European element, because we’ve been talking about Europe now suddenly, Natalie, could you also provide input to the speakers or to the panelists question so that we can also have that pluralistic, multi-regional recognition of answering it?

Turra Daniele: And before you answer that, we also have… a question that I would say you are the best person to answer to. And the other question of online is, she wants, she’s an academic researcher, Anjude Alwis, wants to find out if you think there are advantages to harmonize education data and, for example, higher education certificates accreditation, and do that also for other regions, for example, for the African region.

Dana Cramer: Thank you. So combining those two approaches of policy, but also including this educational policy element too within the answer.

Natalie Tercova: Thank you so much. I think it actually makes perfect sense. And I thank so much for the online question, because this is pretty much what I also wanted to touch upon, which brings me back to the fact that as well, I am active as a lecturer at university. And that is why also I see that there are still some gaps also in the understanding how we can actually take back the ownership of our own data. And sometimes people still lack the knowledge what is happening with the data. And also personally, myself, I sometimes don’t know, you know, there are all sorts of terms and conditions. And we can all ask ourselves, honestly, if we actually read them and if we know the consequences, once we say as we accept. And then the problem is also, as my colleague said about the harmonization, that is definitely one thing. But taking a step back, we have to ensure that we understand what it means and where the data goes and what is actually the real barrier between us owning them and knowing where they’re now circulating, who are these parties who have the access to them and what they’re going to do with it. So I believe taking it back to the question on education and raising some form of awareness and maybe creating a framework that would span various levels of education would make perfect sense, because if we are not aware of the consequences and the terms and so forth, then how can we even ensure that everything is in order and everything makes sense, but also why should we even be interested in the first place in this issue if we just don’t understand what it means and what it encompasses. And it is not something secret that currently the data that we all own and we provide, sometimes we just provide it and we don’t know about it and we don’t know how actually important and rich all this information are we are just putting out there, because we just don’t understand the consequences or how some specific third parties are using it to their benefit and sometimes this benefit is very, very big and it’s very pricey so we are putting all these, our specific forms of values out there without actually knowing how they’re gonna be used and how maybe if it would be different and we would be still the owners of them how we can make sure that they are used in a sense that we would be happy about it and we would be encouraged to use it in a different way and then maybe building some form of communities or hubs where these data we agreed to use would be used if it makes any sense, I hope. So thank you so much for these two questions, I hope I touched on both of them in a sense and I agree that education as well here as in other discussions revolving around internet governance and data handling is the most important and crucial one and this is where we should start. Thank you.

Dana Cramer: Thank you for also bringing out that business model perspective of how we need more transparency in how data is used and decomplexifying business models to ensure that we can understand how data is formulated, used and then how that peer production can be mutually beneficial opposed to concentrated. James, I saw you had your hand up earlier, but I’m not sure if Natalie maybe touched on what you were planning to say, which is why it might have gone down or if you would like to speak.

James Amate: Yes, she basically took the thought out of my mouth. But just to add a bit, I think we need to look at data interoperability, touching on the educational question in the chat, because we need data to be able to sync to each other, talk to each other. It should not be difficult for me to take data that’s generated here in Ghana and make it useful in Kenya. But it looks very much like the current state of data harmonization. So even locally, we sometimes have gaps in how we collect data and how data between even government organizations talk to each other. And that is very difficult for us to unify data and then protect it more secure. Because the more data spreads, the more complexity it has. So we need to be able to reduce those complexities to make sure that it’s our probability is prioritized. And then we can be able to build the cooperatives that drive development. I do hope I’ve answered that question.

Dana Cramer: No, thank you. I think that really teases out business models as well for interoperability and needing businesses to work together potentially through enforced memorandum of understanding agreements or enforcement of entering into trade associations with specified goals to allow for more data justice. Denise, I think that you had a comment on this. And I know that you also had some context about how Indigenous governance models can also be reflected into digital and data cooperatives. If you could speak to your planned perspective on that and also adding that in too, please.

Denise Leal: Perfect. Thank you. So when it comes to Indigenous data, there are a lot of questions that we have to answer to make sure that we’re able to build the cooperatives that are going to be able to support the business models that we have in place. And I think that’s something that we need to be able to work on. And I think that’s something that we need to be able to work on. And I think that’s something that we need to be able to work on. thing is that most people don’t really understand, is that some of this data are public in the internet, so you can access it and it doesn’t have regulations that says that you have to take it out of the internet or be careful with it. Just an example, we have all the locations of the indigenous groups on internet and it’s not categorized nor as a sensitive data, neither as a personal data, because it’s the location of the families and the ethnicities, and it’s the specific location of each one, so it’s not the location of a house, but a whole group. So how you can ask for it not to be there, because, well, in which category of data is it considered? It’s not, this is the thing, it’s not considered in any category here in Brazil, and you cannot ask for it. An example of what problem it can lead is the Yanomamis genocides, their locations and information were accessed in the internet, and also other platforms were used to map their activities, and then the people that worked with mining went to these groups, these families, and they have killed, raped and committed other crimes against these families. Well, we can see that the disposition, that the fact that the indigenous data are internet and other spaces, so freely and easily to access really leads to real problems. These are just some examples of problems, but we do have another kind of problems, just like the natural resources data is also available through the DSE. DSIs in internet and it cannot be, it doesn’t have any kind of regulation about it. So how can you really care about the natural resources data because it’s related to history, culture and other aspects of indigenous families and it doesn’t have a way to protect it. So you have, we have many problems related to this kind of data because it is, these data are sensitive, but they are not considered, not even as personal data because they are related to a collective group. So the thing is, the person here in our audience made the question which is very interesting about the, what should we change to allow data cooperatives and what are the regulations related with it. So here we could say that data cooperative could be an answer to indigenous data because if they could regulate and, well, the people managing their data, they could have a data cooperative to manage the natural resources data, for example, but we don’t have regulations enough to support data cooperatives here. So I believe it’s, it would be, data cooperatives could face some problems here in Brazil because we don’t have enough considerations in the law that to have this model of governance and to allow people and groups to manage and to own the, some kind of data. That’s it, what I wanted to, to add to this discussion. I am worried that we need to better improve our regulations to encompass data cooperatives and also to encompass DSIs, data, resources and to consider specific groups and their sensitive data and their specific cases so that we don’t promote exclusion through the law, because we are not promoting inclusion, we are promoting exclusion with our data regulation here in Brazil and also in other countries.

Dana Cramer: Thank you very much, Denise. Before we end this specific block of our workshop, are there any further questions from the floor over here? Gail, if you wouldn’t mind running the mic.

Audience: This is a super interesting topic and definitely one of my favorite workshops so far. Thank you. Sorry, name and obligation. Oh, sorry. My name is Sienna and I’m from the United States and I’m here independently. And my question is for people who don’t really know much about data cooperatives, think you’re average everyday person, how do you get them on board with this? And then what does implementation actually look like with people who aren’t in the tech space or aren’t in this kind of space?

Dana Cramer: Thank you. And then, Daniela, is there a question in the chat that also builds on this to help our panelists combine their answers?

Turra Daniele: There isn’t a specific question about this in the chat. I would just have a short comment on that, even if I’m not technically a speaker. And then I’d like to have maybe Tabitha for a quick comment because she would be interested in giving a comment as well. So I will try to be very brief. So I’ve discussed during these days with Gail about the actual implementation and what kind of shape it could have as a concept. The main incentive for local businesses and civil societies organizations to get into data cooperative could be actively to get digitized, first of all. So the point is, if you do not have the source of data, data cooperatives as a concept kind of fall down. So I believe that the key word in there is, again, digitalization of processes of both businesses, and very also, in a way, normal and traditional businesses, think about constructions, agriculture, everywhere around the world. All of these organizations need to digitalize their processes through ERPs or CRM of any kind. And the key revolution here could be about who’s providing the tools for them to get digitized. And in particular, I’m thinking about the products and the concept of having that data getting managed through an intermediary that could be, for example, an NGO itself, where all the organizations receiving those digitalization products and skills could get a stake in. And then that intermediary that is collectively and cooperatively managed could decide where that data could go, right? So in that sense, think of having, first of all, a digitalization of businesses as step one. Step two could be having a platform that could allow all these organizations to gather outreach or sell their products and services to a larger audience. And the third step is about having that intermediary actively sell or manage that data on behalf of all the members. This is kind of the idea, but first of all, you need a strong implementation of digital processes in all of these organizations. And with cooperatives, we have the chance to do this responsibly. I hope this is clear.

Dana Cramer: And Tabitha, as one of the organizers for the panel, you had some comments you want to weigh in? Okay, so we’ll move on to our next area, closing the block right now for this section, so we can get through each of the policy questions. So our next policy question broadly is, how can current digital governance frameworks be adapted to prioritize youth leadership in decision-making, ensuring effective tracking of funding and resource allocation, and what lessons can be learned from other internet governance spaces involving youth digital leaders? So we have some sub-questions for the panel to also approach, which first and foremost will be, in your youth-led initiatives, how many funds do you need to engage youth? Have you experienced barriers in developing digital governance frameworks due to lack of financial support? And we’ll start online for this with James, if you would be able to unmute yourself to speak to this point.

James Amate: Yes, thank you for the question. I think the cost of data collection is one of the most underestimated parts of building a data cooperative, right? So it’s not just the cost of maybe hosting the data, like infrastructure, it’s the cost around setting up the community. maybe, you know, devices for collecting data, modes of collecting data, duration of collecting data, right? Support for the individuals who collect the data, right? So, all of these things are an important part of, you know, building a data cooperative. Now, most of my work is done around volunteer-led data collection, where volunteers come together to collect data at their spare time on their own time, right? But sometimes, even that, you know, you still need to spend money on, you know, building capacity, right? Building skills on how to properly collect data, how to properly validate the data, and how to properly store the data. So, these costs can sometimes stifle the progress we try to make around these data cooperatives, right? Because it’s the people that are cooperating to build the model. So, if the people are not supported in one way or the other, you know, sometimes in stipends, sometimes, you know, getting internet, right? Because most of these data collection models, you’d have to upload the data online, and we look at things like internet costs, which is one of the very key, should I say, barriers to active participation of community members. So, how do we look at supporting the communities that collect data that we hopefully wish to rely on in the future? And how do we also look to support organizations that are coordinating these communities to be able to do more work.

Dana Cramer: Thank you very much. Natalie if you wouldn’t mind also discussing this because on this element of funds to engage, because you’re in quite a few different digital leadership initiatives and stages and all of this costs money so I know with your robust experience that you could potentially shine some light to it, and kind of build that history of when you work on one initiative. What the cost for that so we can better understand like what James was just discussing about the cost for initiatives that don’t yet exist yet with the digital and data cooperatives.

Natalie Tercova: Thank you so much. Well, it’s no surprise that the issue of money and funds is always the most crucial one when it comes to effectively engaging the youth so I would maybe start by saying that I personally perceive that the biggest issue is that we are not perceived as a specific stakeholder group in many forms. Sometimes there is this categorization that we have government and we have the technical community and then there’s the rest, and the rest is like civil society with academics and with youth, and just personally me coming from the academia sphere and I’m coming from the researcher point of view I, I really don’t think that our insights and our angles to certain topics are in line with those what young people have children or broader, this big bag of civil society so I think that whenever we talk about effectively engaging youth and supporting the initiatives, we should not treat them as this broad civil society, civil society bag, because then whenever we want to highlight certain initiatives and make someone understand that it is really needed to bring them somewhere to bring them as equal stakeholders to debates on the GDC or on other processes or on the topics of digital governments. or just simply being here, getting them here to IGF, having the voice and speaking it is so important not to treat them as just civil society because we have many other representatives already so usually they just don’t receive any forms of support or mentorship or funds because usually there is someone else already taking the spot and it’s usually not that pricey because they probably have their own connections already and this is already this, let’s say, shortcoming when it comes to treating youth initiatives they just basically don’t have the support usually that they need they still need to build these networks and generate some form of support as they go and it’s like a vicious circle so if we would have them here with us or at any other forums and events then it would be probably easier for them to raise up why their voice is important then get some connections and then eventually generate enough support for them to come but if they don’t have this opportunity in the first place then there’s not much we can do about it so usually we struggle with getting them somewhere we always see from the government some options like oh you can actually submit a paper or you can submit a report or like your opinion written somewhere but you never know actually how and if even it is implemented which is of course an issue and another thing is that if you’re not in the room and we all know how this is you are low-key excluded from those discussions that are very important happening outside the rooms we all know this over coffee this is usually where the real work is happening and so if we don’t engage them engage them really where these things are happening they’re losing the equalness in this debate eventually so with this I want to say that I was part of many also youth-focused initiatives in the internet governance ecosystem also when I was starting being interested in all these topics myself spanning from ITU, the European Dialogue on Internet Internet Governance, where I actually met Daniela, and then being part of ICANN’s program when we worked with each other with Dana, planning the NextGen, which supports people who are still also studying in high schools and then having some forms of fellowship on again various levels. We can see that this is a very good praxis coming from the big organizations and initiatives that already understand that they need a new perspectives of young people, because if we keep on talking about the Internet for the future, we should include those who will be living in the future. And I think this is fundamental to understand that there are a specific form of stakeholder group. We need to have them somewhere as equal partners to the discussions. However, if we don’t provide them the opportunity to come, then we are excluding them.

Dana Cramer: No, thank you. I think that perspective of youth as a stakeholder group is so important, especially as we’re heading into WSIS plus 20. Maybe to put in a recommendation for this to update the definition of the multi-stakeholder model as part of WSIS to include youth as a stakeholder group, which wouldn’t be too obtuse considering the technical community wasn’t recognized in that first iteration. And so it wouldn’t be abnormal to request another stakeholder group. But also, as you were saying, that youth initiatives, and they really rest within opportunities for youth as well. We can’t have youth-led initiatives if we don’t also grant youth opportunities and create multiple points where you can be in the room. And as we’re seeing also with WSIS and the GDC, a question of if the GDC’s review is tagged with WSIS in Geneva each year, does that create funding issues to try to get to Switzerland once a year to be part of those conversations? And what does that mean for different stakeholders around the world who do not have the financial resources to do so most prominently youth? of potentially a better venue that travels around the world as we all travel with it. Denise, I know you had some responses as well to this question. And in addition, could you also tell us a bit about your journey into becoming a young digital leader and explain how using digital governance frameworks can benefit from other youth coming through the leadership pipe similar to you?

Denise Leal: Yes, sure. Thank you. So I’ve been part of some youth programs. I started with the Brazilian youth program, then got involved with the youth like IGF, and now I am in the youth coalition. And we can see that these organizations, these youth organizations are strong in their discussions. What we need to be stronger is to be more involved in policymaking processes, I think, not only here, but also worldwide. And I can see on the other hand, in the other side that we already have, we do need to be more involved in policymaking, but we already have some good results of our work in digital governance and related to internet governance and other spaces. And I am really trying to bring the discussion on traditional communities this year. So if I’m speaking about it, I can say that some young people and the younger youth organizations, along with other stakeholders, have achieved a very special thing that I wanted to share here. We have some traditional language in Google Translator and in other platforms, which allows them and other groups to share data from these communities that speak these languages and online informations. And well, This is a result of a work of young people, not only this, but we can see other improvements. We have been proving how the discussions on internet governance works across Latin American Caribbean and we are trying to have a more dynamic way to guide and to lead these discussions so that we can really hear everyone and where and encompasses everyone in the in every aspect that needs to be in the discussions. We do have some local initiatives that are impacting youth and other people’s lives and I can see that the young leaders have worked well and have the knowledge they need, the knowledge to be…

Turra Daniele: Sorry Denise, I think we have some technical issues because we cannot, we can not… Okay, it’s okay now?

Denise Leal: You cannot hear well?

Turra Daniele: No, no, it’s okay.

Denise Leal: It’s okay, all right. Well, anyway, I was almost ending my topic. I just wanted to say that youth leaders have been doing a great work by making the digital governance more inclusive and effective in this aspect. So we do need to keep this work and we’ll keep looking for these groups that are not usually part of the discussions. When we involve these groups and work for them, we are really making a great impact. I can see it here in Latin American Caribbean. This year, if I speak from my experience of youth like IGF, I can say that we had many sessions that brought these discussions and we’ve got a chance to work with people that are working with community networks and this is very important in terms… of the GDC, it should be more there, more considered in the document, but it is in the document, not as much as it should be, but it is, which is a victory, we think. Community networks are also an answer to places where we don’t have access to internet. So here in Latin American Caribbean, we have not only young people, but other groups working with it, but specifically talking about young people, we have an organization like KIST, which is an indigenous organization that works all across Latin America, implementing community network in indigenous places where it’s really far and it’s really difficult to access internet, so they are doing a great job. So we have these examples of youth work and youth involvement in digital governance. So we’ve got to value them, to give support and also to involve them in policymaking because we do have practical work to show and results to show. I wanted to say this, I am feeling that I am giving a lot of cultural actions, but I hope that I gave some good examples to you of what our youth work here in Latin American Caribbean looks like. Thank you.

Gael Van Weyenbergh: Yes, thank you, Denise. That’s very useful indeed. So I want to turn over to you, Keith. What is the situation in Kenya? Can you give us some insight?

Keith Andere: Thanks, Gael. I’ll not only just give the situation in Kenya, but I’ll also touch up in an African situation, having been a youth leader and led up an African youth movement. I think, number one, I agree with what colleagues have said, but most importantly I want to highlight that there’s need to institutionalize youth engagement, because what we’ve seen especially in these digital spaces, I think youth engagement has almost been kind of hand-picking kind of engagement, you know, either because the interest is personal and so the people who come into kind of the spaces are more personalized and not institutionalized kind of, you know, youth engagement. So there isn’t, I haven’t seen much of engaging youth institutions, and youth institutions here are youth networks, youth organizations, especially those who are working at the grassroots level, and they have the aspect and elements of, you know, digital inclusion, digital rights as it. So maybe one aspect that we really need to do is look at how do we support youth networks, how do we support youth organizations themselves to grow the capacity so that they become our change agents, in the sense that there’s continuity. I’ve seen situations where in Kenya, for example, there’s a lot of opportunity to engage young people, but as we grow older other things come in, so we tend to drop off, yeah, either because now I have a young family or now I’ve got another opportunity, I’ve gotten a job, so we tend to drop off and think about advocacy and this kind of engagement. It’s a long-term kind of game, if I was gonna put it that way, and so by the time we realize a very minimal milestone, you know, some of these colleagues who understood the process have already dropped off. I do agree, you know, with what also the colleague said about having youth as a standalone, you know, stakeholder group. I think from an African IGF perspective, this is something that really pushed a few years ago to ensure that youth are considered as a standalone stakeholder group. And what that meant is that, you know, there was a seat of youth as a stakeholder in the mug of the African IGF. But what has happened over the years is, you know, that progressive thinking has been reversed back. And now they’re saying, look, we don’t need a youth seat at the mug, but we can get youthful people into the mug, which I think is detriment to the kind of progress that we already want to see. Then lastly, I think, again, we cannot underscore the issues of resources. And it’s a twofold thing. One, there is a lot of resources to be tapped, but on the flip side, there isn’t any resources that, you know, gets down to the people. And I think one way we can ensure that young people are getting these resources is to also look at the stringent donor expectation of youth organizations. Some of them operate as loose networks. And so by the time, you know, you’re getting some little funds to go and do, you know, something, they want a whole list of things, you know, make sure you have audit for three years, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. Yet this is just a coalition of young people who are coming and they’re operating as loose networks. So how do we, in our funding models, look at ways to fund the unfunded and the unfundable so that we include those people who don’t have the usual structure, but they’re actually doing the work at the community level. So I’ll stop here.

Gael Van Weyenbergh: Thank you so much. Thank you, Kees. These are very meaningful points. So yeah, the first one to recap is how can we ensure that, like we heard several times during this event, that the use is not on the menu, but at the table, and that you cannot kick them out of the table. And also how to ensure a sense of continuity. And lastly, you mentioned the question of resources that we all experience every day. And especially last week, two weeks ago, we had an event and we experienced firsthand how to fund these loose networks of organizations. James, is this something you want to react on?

James Amate: Yes, I think the problem we currently have in the multi-stakeholder engagement is differentiating priorities. So each stakeholder has their own priorities when it comes to data cooperatives. Yes, we may align on the vision, but the priority might be different. So you could see that the commitments may wait as time goes on. Now, what I would have loved is to have maybe certain funders of data cooperatives in the building. If there are some, maybe they can tell us their perspective of what they look out for in sponsoring these cooperatives. What’s their mission? What’s their goal? And how can we work together with the grassroots to be able to align properly? Because yes, they have the funds, but we need to be able to align that correctly with the people at the grassroots level, on the youth level, and be able to get the message from the bottom up. Because sometimes it’s very difficult for you to be up there and then have a feel of what it takes to be a leader. you know, at the grassroots level, right? So I think maybe if we can get some funders, some governments, if they’re in the building to help us understand their perspective or what they’re looking out for in joining these cooperatives and how we can better work together.

Turra Daniele: Thank you so much, James and Keith, for your valuable inputs. I think the theme and the topic about opportunities for youth are very important. As we mentioned so, so many times, youth is very hard for youth as a stakeholder group to get actively represented because they do not have the experience, they do not have working experience. Most often they are in a way residual stakeholder group and instead we need more and more opportunities and also independent coalition and initiatives to get them involved. And in terms of opportunities, I would like to let Tabitha Wangeci that is an online participant to give her some time, just an input. Just please be aware of time. We are expected to finish this session in a few minutes and we would like to move to the next item. So please Tabitha, the floor is yours.

Tabitha Wangechi: All right, hi everyone. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak. I think I’ve been trying to speak for a very long time, but finally I’m able to speak. I actually wanted to point it out, the fact that in Africa, we have very limited access to quality, trusted and reliable data. And that’s why it’s very hard to create this, you know, cooperatives in Africa and even policies. starting from there. For example, I have worked as, let me say, a gig worker, not a member of a cooperative, a data cooperative in Kenya. And at the time, it was foreign led, but it was coming to Kenya to pay us to collect data and submit to them. And at the time, I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know I was getting involved in this business of a data cooperative. So having this conversation and looking back, I see how much data we collected and the amount we were paid. It makes me think that in Africa, we don’t even need policies for data cooperatives. We need updated laws on employment. For example, our employment laws are 20 years old. They don’t address the digital era. They don’t address the plight that workers go through, for example, in digital cooperatives, to be able to gather that data and be paid the amount that you deserve. It’s not clear because we don’t have laws for that. So there’s a huge room for exploitation. And aside from that, let’s not forget that we are in a role with big tech, because they have a lot of our data that they are hoarding. And for us to access it, we need to pay to have it. So this conversation is very timely, because I see data cooperatives as the future for the data markets. It’s going to be big, it’s going to be highly valued. But my question is, as Africa, where are we? Where are we positioning ourselves to be able to capture this moment and not be left behind and be exploited by big tech and the global North? So we need to up our game number one by securing the finances that we need, because it’s actually very expensive. Number one, if you’re establishing a reasonable, a well-established business model in the data world. It’s very expensive, resource extensive. You need people who are educated who can get you data that is quality, reliable. You cannot just gather data from anyone. And also we’re not looking for academic data. Dana, I’m sorry, I know she’s a researcher in the academia. We also need to shy away from that. Avoiding data that is too academic in data cooperatives. We need real data from real people, bringing members together, pulling data together, defining these revenue models that work for us, that make people trust that they can give their data and be compensated. We can build a future where data is easily accessible, reliable, and we can now sell our data for a profit and not just be exploited for data by big tech and not be paid anything. So as Africans, we need to come back home, have the conversation, refine our labor laws, number one, protect our data, and also harmonize data between countries in the continent. I know the African Union has been working very hard on that. So big up to them on that. But still, we have a very long way to go when it comes to building sustainable data cooperatives in Africa. Thank you for the opportunity.

Gael Van Weyenbergh: Thank you, Tabitha. It’s very insightful to have your insights from a first-hand perspective and not only as a theoretical concept. Vlad, you want to add something on this?

Vlad Ivanets: Yeah, I would probably answer Tabitha’s question as well as I would like to raise the talk on Global Digital Compact a bit, because I think that the implementation of this document is really enabling the African region and the South region to be an active part of the digital economy will all live in currently and with its very enthusiastic goal of connecting 2.6 billion people who still remain not connected to the internet by 2030 seems quite doable if the whole world will join this program and if we will have the collaborative work in this regard. So I think this document is big and it is really discussed throughout the forum, throughout the communities and it provides a lot of opportunities for those who are really searching for help, I would say and it really highlights the problems that younger generation is facing right now because we all know that young people who are using the internet, they sometimes have the problems connected with sexual abuse and misinformation and many, many other problems that they are struggling from living in digital cyberspace. I would like to open the floor for the discussion of Global Silk Compact, if I may, because I think we kind of ignored this one and this one is important. I mean, I would invite our speakers to speak on this one. Thank you.

Natalie Tercova: Thank you, Vlad. I am more than happy to kickstart this conversation because one of the core principles we see within the Global Digital Compact is that we want to have inclusive participation. and we want the Internet to be as inclusive, but also to be a trusted space. There’s a lot of discussions within the idea and values within the GDC is to provide a trusted platform for everyone to feel safe online. And from my perspective, the European perspective, and on topics I’ve been working on in the past few years, I’m constantly focusing on children and youth as the end users of the Internet and digital platforms and what types of opportunities but also risks they currently face online. And in the past days here at IGF, I’ve been delivering several talks on the problematics of child sexual abuse materials and all sorts of harmful content that are circulating online. And yet, until today, it is still unclear and it’s not harmonized who should be responsible for, let’s say, hosting these forms of materials online. What happens to those who reshare these things, those who download these things? And there are still so many question marks and real threats in the online environment, not only for youth, but also for other vulnerable groups. And I really hope and wish that through GDC and maybe other frameworks, we can do more for those who are very much at risk of being vulnerable and having their well-being negatively affected due to the limited frameworks or also maybe regulations within the online environment. Because currently, unfortunately, we still cannot say that the online platforms and Internet per se is a space that can be trusted and it can be safe for everyone. So I’m really having high hopes that GDC might be maybe a good start, a good kickstart to having more robust and rigorous frameworks to ensure that we can really one day say that the Internet is here for us, to help us, help us thrive, help us use the opportunities they provide while making us able to… mitigate the risks, and stay safe as much as we can. Keith, maybe if I can do this move, and then put the floor over to you, so you can add up on whatever you have to say to the Global Digital Contact.

Keith Andere: Yeah, sure. Thank you so much. I think the DGDC is a very timely kind of cooperation that has come up, you know, talking about data justice and the inequalities that come with it. But most importantly, what we see as a very progressive aspect also from us, from Africa, is the development and the adoption of the Africa Digital Compact, you know, which then aligns very closely with the Global Digital Compact, but then it speaks to the African, you know, priorities. And I think the biggest question here is the implementation, right? If we don’t figure out how best do we have this implementation, especially in Africa, then we’re going to have a challenge. It speaks about, you know, stakeholder consultation. How do we ensure that the stakeholder consultation, for example, is not a high-level stakeholder consultation, but a very low-level, grassroots kind of consultation, so that we are able to move together, ensuring that nobody is left behind. I mean, in the sense of SDGs leaving no one behind. I think also that we really need that. Again, I speak a lot from an African perspective. We really need to see the harmonization itself between the UN-led process and also the regional INGO, which in our case is the African Union, making sure that we have synergy between these two entities, so that the African Union also owns up this Global Digital Compact, becomes a key player in terms of implementation and making sure that… You know, we are bridging digital divides, ensuring that we have affordable and accessible digital technologies. I think one also of the challenges that Africa is being faced with is skills development and digital literacy. That still remains a huge challenge and the digital literacy comes also with a level of general literacy, right? In Africa, we have a number of young people who are still illiterate. So even though we want to go into the digital literacy and skills development, there’s a lot of skill gaps, skill mismatch. If you go to the education systems, a very unfortunate that many African countries are already, you know, using now and where the future is going in terms of future of work and the skill of the future, there’s a whole mismatch. It’s not new, but universities are also producing half baked people, you know, graduates. So you go to the university, finish your degree, whatever. Learn obsolete things that, you know, there are 20, 30 years ago when I was in a computer science school, the kind of technologies that I was learning, you know, visual basic. And by the time I got, everybody’s looking at me, those are the, boy, is this something for the, you know, past 20 years. So learning again on the market. So I think those was one of key issues. And again, balancing innovation and regulation, especially for emerging technologies is something that from an African point of view, we really need to pay a close attention to because all these emerging technologies, AI, you know, and all of these things that are all coming in, we are quick to sit in a regulation for AI. Let’s try and make sure that there’s, you know, some sense of regulation, but sure that that does not stifle innovation, you know, using AI, of course. to bridge the gaps that we are talking about, either the skills development, either digital literacy, becoming an African, you know, context where we have a lot of indigenous and native languages, how then do we ensure that the data that is in this native and indigenous languages are also recorded, they are kept, they are translated, you know, and vice versa. You know, Wikipedia, for example, I would like to see it in Luya, which is my local dialect, for example, so that I’m able to share this to my grandmother, for example, and she can understand. Because if you look at taking religion, for example, we have Bibles and Quran even that has been translated into the local dialect to make sure that, you know, my grandmother back in the village, even though she cannot read English, but she can read her local dialect and she can understand. So I think these are some issues that we really need to think about. For me, I’m into the implementation. Everything on paper looks good, but how do we go to the ground and implement this?

Dana Cramer: Thank you very much. In our last six minutes, we’ll work through audience questions. And I’d also really like to thank Gail and Vlad for taking over. Unfortunately, I had some food poisoning that came at an opportune moment. Daniele, do we have any questions at all in the chat to address in these final few minutes? No, okay, then we’ll move to audience questions. I think we have, we’ll start with the woman to the side here in these last five minutes, and then we’ll move to Erin afterwards in front.

Audience: Thank you very much. I’ve enjoyed the conversation a lot, a lot of learnings, but I have like two concerns. One, when it comes to data collection, but secondly, integrating youth, like it has repeated from two speakers how, when you have the youth on board, eventually they go out because they get older. And I’m thinking, maybe while we’re looking at challenges, the current challenges that are here, is it not, is it wanted, how do I put it? Does the youth not have a responsibility on pulling other youth while they know that they’re moving out? I think that is something you should also consider because, like I would be very interested to know you as youth, what do you think about that? Because sometimes we tend to think like on governance level, they’re not including us. So what are you guys doing to include the others? By the time you’re done, you have nurtured the other group of actors. And the second aspect, I also learned in data protection. I’m very interested in the topic of data protection. And one of the things I’ve learned is that in technology right now, we are so much pushed to solving problems, but instead of solving the problems and learning about what has been done, we go ahead, we leap ahead and start solving the problems, whether it’s collecting data, whether it’s finding solutions, and you find a lot of duplications. So you have a limitation of resources and you’re duplicating something which is already existent. Like you might find you’re collecting data, which has already been collected somewhere. You are solving a solution, a kind of solution, which has already been solved somewhere. And to be honest, most of the solutions provided by the youth are usually very unique because they sort of represent the youth themselves. I’ve shared an observation on the question. That was mine. I would really like to hear from them. Thank you.

Dana Cramer: Great. Thank you. I think Nathalie wants to start us off with this question, and then we’ll move to one of the online speakers just for a balance between. in the room in person and those virtually.

Natalie Tercova: Yes, thank you so much. I would love to give maybe my perspective on your first question. And I actually had these discussions with many of my colleagues also in the previous days about how we make sure that we are not the most youth in the room and not really representing what let’s say 18 years old want and what challenges they face because it can differ very much if you’re close to your 30s or if you’re 18. And I believe that what can be done and what I’m personally trying to do in my region is to go to schools also at the, let’s say last years of the elementary schools but also high schools and do some forms of workshops or lectures tackling the issues we also deal with in the internet governance fields because saying internet governance in GDC and all these weird abbreviations or shortcuts, it can be very scary. And sometimes young people feel like it doesn’t concern them at all or they just don’t understand what it means. So what I’m trying to do is also always think about the real implication, for instance of the GDC, how it’s gonna affect me as a person or maybe if we have these forms of discussions, how I can benefit as a young person or what about my family or friends or younger siblings, how they can personally be affected about these forms of legislations or generally we hear we are discussing so many real life issues but we have some form of code names for them, more fancy ones sometimes. And we are creating this not very inclusive barriers just because of the language we’re using. So what I would suggest is to go always back from the bottom up approach, go back to the schools, go where the youth is gathering and tell them this is actually your place to shine. We’re actually willing to listen and these all sorts of weird terms and abbreviations, all these actually have some real form, physical form and eventually some outcomes and to try provide some real examples. and through this make them excited about it and hopefully bring them on board. Because as you say, if we don’t have really young people represented, then we are missing the point. And eventually someone who is trying to make sure that they’re at the table will say, oh, well, they’re not interested. So let’s not invite them anymore. So this would be just my insight on this first question you’re asking.

Dana Cramer: Thank you. And then to kind of give our closing comment and answering the question, I want to give the floor to Denise, who I believe has the most largest time zone difference and has really taken time out of her sleeping time. So I want to give the closing remarks to her to also conclude the question.

Denise Leal: Thank you. Well, I think the discussions are pretty interesting here today. We’ve got the chance to hear lots of different opinions and we see that the situation of not only data, but also youth participation in digital governance and innovation is similar, but also different across the world. And bringing this youth perspective from Latin American, Caribbean, and also speaking about teens participation. This year, I was involved in a dialogue about how we could involve teens and people that don’t really have access to innovation and digitalization, how we can involve them in these processes. And I heard an answer that I think that I could bring here that is we have to give the chance to these groups, these teens, and also other youths to develop and to create innovation. So by understanding that our educational system is not the better, the best one that we could have, we are beginning this discussion. to be like effective. We should implement a more technological education that could provide teams from different places and also when it comes to traditional people to give them the opportunity to create their own innovation and their own technology. I believe that this could be an answer, an effective answer to really involve these other groups and to make the discussion of how we can make not only youth, but other marginalized people really involved in the process of the digital governance and how we are developing our innovation and why do you need to be involved in this?

Dana Cramer: Thank you so much, Denise. Unfortunately, we are getting a signal that we have to end and our transcription has also ended with the hour. So I’d like to thank the panelists both in person and online for taking the time today, as well as our tech support team and all the participants, as well as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting this session in the Internet Governance Forum this week. We hope you have a great rest of your day. Aaron has been collecting much comments for the final report sent to Secretariat in early January. If there are any lasting remarks you would like, please feel free to reach us. You can find our contact information through the IGF by searching our names and affiliations. Thank you so much. Have a great day.

Agreement Points

Need for improved digital literacy education

Natalie Tercova

Keith Andere

Denise Leal

Need for robust educational frameworks on digital literacy

Challenge of skills development and digital literacy in Africa

Need for more technological education to enable innovation

Multiple speakers emphasized the importance of enhancing digital literacy education, from elementary to university levels, to prepare youth for the digital future.

Importance of youth engagement in digital governance

Keith Andere

Natalie Tercova

Denise Leal

Importance of youth as a distinct stakeholder group

Need to institutionalize youth engagement beyond individual initiatives

Importance of going to schools to engage youth directly

Importance of giving youth opportunities to create their own innovations

Speakers agreed on the need to actively involve youth in digital governance processes, recognizing them as a distinct stakeholder group and providing opportunities for their participation and innovation.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlighted the financial challenges in supporting youth initiatives and data collection efforts, emphasizing the need for more flexible and supportive funding models.

Keith Andere

James Amate

Need for youth-specific funding models

Challenges of data collection costs and community support

Both speakers emphasized the need for updated regulations to protect vulnerable groups in the digital era, including traditional communities and digital workers.

Denise Leal

Tabitha Wangechi

Importance of considering traditional communities in data regulations

Lack of updated employment laws for digital era workers

Unexpected Consensus

Importance of regional approaches to digital governance

Keith Andere

Denise Leal

Vlad Ivanets

Importance of harmonization between UN and regional bodies like African Union

Importance of considering traditional communities in data regulations

Opportunity for African region to be active in digital economy

Despite coming from different regions, these speakers all emphasized the importance of regional approaches to digital governance, suggesting a broader consensus on the need for localized strategies within global frameworks.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement centered around the need for improved digital literacy education, increased youth engagement in digital governance, and the importance of regional approaches to digital issues.

Consensus level

There was a moderate level of consensus among the speakers on key issues, particularly regarding youth engagement and education. This consensus suggests a strong foundation for developing youth-focused digital governance strategies, but also highlights the need for more specific, actionable plans to address regional differences and implementation challenges.

Different Viewpoints

Approach to youth engagement

Natalie Tercova

Keith Andere

Need for robust educational frameworks on digital literacy

Importance of youth as a distinct stakeholder group

Natalie Tercova emphasizes the need for educational frameworks, while Keith Andere focuses on recognizing youth as a distinct stakeholder group in governance structures.

Focus of data protection efforts

Denise Leal

Tabitha Wangechi

Importance of considering traditional communities in data regulations

Lack of updated employment laws for digital era workers

Denise Leal emphasizes protecting traditional communities’ data, while Tabitha Wangechi focuses on updating employment laws for digital workers.

Unexpected Differences

Approach to data harmonization

James Amate

Keith Andere

Challenges of data collection costs and community support

Importance of harmonization between UN and regional bodies like African Union

While both speakers are from Africa, James focuses on local community-level data harmonization, while Keith emphasizes the need for high-level harmonization between international and regional bodies.

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around the approach to youth engagement, focus of data protection efforts, and the level at which data harmonization should occur.

difference_level

The level of disagreement is moderate. While speakers generally agree on the importance of youth involvement and data protection, they differ in their specific approaches and priorities. These differences reflect the complexity of implementing digital governance frameworks across diverse regions and contexts.

Partial Agreements

Both speakers agree on the need for sustainable support structures, but Keith focuses on institutionalizing youth engagement, while James emphasizes financial and community support for data collection.

Keith Andere

James Amate

Need to institutionalize youth engagement beyond individual initiatives

Challenges of data collection costs and community support

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlighted the financial challenges in supporting youth initiatives and data collection efforts, emphasizing the need for more flexible and supportive funding models.

Keith Andere

James Amate

Need for youth-specific funding models

Challenges of data collection costs and community support

Both speakers emphasized the need for updated regulations to protect vulnerable groups in the digital era, including traditional communities and digital workers.

Denise Leal

Tabitha Wangechi

Importance of considering traditional communities in data regulations

Lack of updated employment laws for digital era workers

Key Takeaways

Data cooperatives are a promising model but face implementation challenges, especially in developing regions

Youth need to be recognized as a distinct stakeholder group in digital governance

There is a need for more robust educational frameworks on digital literacy and skills development

The Global Digital Compact presents opportunities but requires careful implementation, especially at the grassroots level

Balancing innovation and regulation for emerging technologies is crucial, particularly in Africa

Resolutions and Action Items

Engage youth directly through schools and local initiatives to increase participation in digital governance

Work towards harmonizing data protection laws and digital policies across regions

Develop more inclusive funding models for youth-led digital initiatives

Implement technological education to enable innovation among youth and marginalized groups

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively maintain youth engagement in initiatives as participants age out

Addressing the lack of updated employment laws for digital era workers, especially in Africa

How to balance data collection needs with privacy concerns and resource limitations

Strategies for reducing duplication of efforts in data collection and solution development

Suggested Compromises

Develop hybrid models of youth engagement that combine institutional support with grassroots initiatives

Create regional data cooperatives that can balance local needs with broader policy frameworks

Implement tiered approaches to digital literacy education, addressing both basic and advanced skills

We currently lack some robust frameworks when it comes to education, educating young people in terms of media literacy, digital literacy, championing skills such as programming and so forth. These things are not yet embedded within the curricula through the educational system from elementary, spanning universities, schools.

speaker

Natalie Tercova

reason

This comment highlights a critical gap in digital education and skills development, which is fundamental for youth engagement in digital governance.

impact

It shifted the discussion towards the importance of education and skill-building as a foundation for youth participation in digital initiatives.

We need to improve this but as a good topic to our discussion, not only a call to action, I would like to say that in terms of innovation, we do have some work on it across Latin America and Caribbean. I can say about a program from Brazil called Local Innovation Agent, who works bringing innovation and implementing it in a local level, which I think is very interesting and impactful.

speaker

Denise Leal

reason

This comment introduces a concrete example of a successful youth-focused innovation program, providing a practical perspective to the discussion.

impact

It moved the conversation from theoretical challenges to practical solutions and examples of successful initiatives.

I personally advocate for an open data model where you have a stake in the data and the quality of producers.

speaker

James Amate

reason

This comment introduces the concept of open data and stakeholder ownership, which is crucial for data cooperatives.

impact

It broadened the discussion to include considerations of data ownership and quality, emphasizing the importance of community involvement in data production.

I think from an African IGF perspective, this is something that really pushed a few years ago to ensure that youth are considered as a standalone stakeholder group. And what that meant is that, you know, there was a seat of youth as a stakeholder in the mug of the African IGF.

speaker

Keith Andere

reason

This comment highlights the importance of recognizing youth as a distinct stakeholder group in governance structures.

impact

It sparked a discussion about the institutional recognition of youth in decision-making processes and the challenges of maintaining that recognition.

We need real data from real people, bringing members together, pulling data together, defining these revenue models that work for us, that make people trust that they can give their data and be compensated.

speaker

Tabitha Wangechi

reason

This comment emphasizes the need for practical, grassroots-level data collection and the importance of fair compensation models.

impact

It shifted the focus to the practical aspects of implementing data cooperatives and the importance of trust and fair compensation in data collection.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by moving it from theoretical concepts to practical challenges and solutions. They highlighted the importance of education, institutional recognition of youth, and grassroots involvement in data collection and governance. The discussion evolved from identifying problems to exploring concrete examples and potential solutions, emphasizing the need for a multi-faceted approach to youth engagement in digital governance that includes education, policy changes, and practical implementation strategies.

How can data cooperatives be implemented in practice, especially for people who aren’t in the tech space?

speaker

Sienna (audience member)

explanation

This question addresses the practical implementation of data cooperatives for the general public, which is crucial for widespread adoption.

What are funders looking for when sponsoring data cooperatives?

speaker

James Amate

explanation

Understanding funder priorities could help align grassroots efforts with available funding opportunities.

How can Africa position itself to capture the future of data markets and not be left behind or exploited by big tech and the global North?

speaker

Tabitha Wangechi

explanation

This question addresses the need for strategic positioning of African countries in the emerging data economy.

How can we ensure that stakeholder consultation for the Global Digital Compact includes grassroots-level input?

speaker

Keith Andere

explanation

This is important to ensure that the Global Digital Compact reflects the needs of all stakeholders, including those at the grassroots level.

How can we balance innovation and regulation for emerging technologies in Africa?

speaker

Keith Andere

explanation

This question addresses the need to foster innovation while also ensuring appropriate regulation in the African context.

How can youth initiatives ensure continuity and involve younger participants as current youth leaders age out?

speaker

Audience member (unnamed)

explanation

This question addresses the sustainability of youth initiatives and the need for ongoing engagement of new young participants.

How can we avoid duplication of efforts in data collection and problem-solving, especially among youth initiatives?

speaker

Audience member (unnamed)

explanation

This question highlights the need for better coordination and knowledge sharing among youth initiatives to maximize limited resources.