Wrap-up 2022
22 June 2022 | 18:00 - 18:30 CEST | SISSA Main Auditorium | 
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Consolidated programme 2022 overview / Day 2
Wrap-up
- Engaging in the IGFSA, Jennifer Chung, IGFSA
- Handover of the EuroDIG Flag to the next EuroDIG Host
Video record
https://youtu.be/qFEpZUpEML8?t=28918
Transcript
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>> NADIA TJAHJA: It is my pleasure to introduce you to Jennifer Chung and she’ll present the IGFSA.
>> JENNIFER CHUNG: We’re at the last part of this journey. Thank you to EuroDIG for giving the Internet Governance Forum Support Association an opportunity to speak with all of you here.
We have had two Executive Committee members here in Trieste, Anriette and Nigel Hickson and Markkus has been online with many sessions throughout the three days.. I have been reminded through this journey that one of the most precious resources that we have in advancing the Internet Governance dialogue is our time together.
Over the past two years, the IGF and the NRI, the National Regional Initiatives, have moved their meetings online and now are moving into hybrid mode. We heard earlier today in a session about how we collaboratively envision the multistakeholder approach moving forward, what it looks like in the future and in the same way I guess our format, how we conduct these collaborative approaches also is evolving.
The IGF brings people together from all stakeholder groups as equals.
We heard from government, we heard from Civil Society, we heard from private sector, we heard from the youth, we heard from technical community all three days, and really it is inclusive. Everyone can participate and EuroDIG embodies these principles welcoming me from outside the region, from Asia-Pacific to be a part of the discussions here. That I’m really thankful. The IGFSA is set up to support the IGF. The goal is to provide stable and sustainable support for the IGF Secretariat and to fund related activities. Increasingly the IGFSA allocated most of our funding resources to the national, regional initiatives. From our launch in 2014 up until the end of last year we have contributed a total of 300,000 U.S. dollars to the IGF trust fund and supported 146 national IGFs and 58 regional IGF meetings to a total of 499,000 U.S. dollars. Hopefully we’ll pass that 500,000 mark really soon.
We have been a EuroDIG donner since the launch in 2014.
There has been discussion about funding, about funding for youth participation that we have heard yesterday, that we hear in many, many of the meetings and have you also wondered how meetings like EuroDIG is put together and funded.
Many times there is only a lean budget and from this, from this really lean budget, the pre-event, the venue, the tech, all of the logistic, the people, the volunteer, all of the social, networking events and opportunities, the publication reports and the messages, they are made into reality for participants to enjoy. This is a magic that Sandra Hoferichter and her team coordinated so well for us here.
You may have noticed the screen above us here, the whole time, it just changed, listing the donner, the institutional partners of EuroDIG. All of you shared experiences on what’s worked with issues related to the internet, we have all talked about the sustainability of the IGF and the sustainability of the spaces that allow us to come together openly and freely to discuss these ideas as stakeholders across the Spectrum on equal footing.
Individuals cannot fund the IGF directly, but I can through IGFSA. We have been talking about the multistakeholder processes, the multistakeholder bottom-up process will die without multistakeholder bottom-up support and investment.
This is part of my pitch to you. You should join the IGFSA as a member to support the IGF, to support the NRIs and for those looking to start your own initiatives, in your home country, your home region, you should absolutely join the IGFSA. The seed funding given out for small grants helps you get the first meeting off the ground. In fact, a lot of the NRIs that have their pilot meetings last year, I believe it was Comarus and hopefully we’ll get – I’ll mangle that name. It is actually very, very important for them to get seed funding, to get the meeting off the ground. All of the details on the membership as well as how to support IGFSA is found on IGFSA.org.
I guess finally, a bit of a personal observation, this has been my very first EuroDIG meeting, it is the first regional meeting I have been at outside of my home region, the first NRI I have been at since we have stopped really meeting physically about two years ago. There is so much that I have learned and observed from these sessions, how they’re put together, how the big stages are put together, how the EuroDIG messages we just saw are put together collaboratively. We heard from the YOUthDIG participants and they’re so vibrant, engaging, I was chatting with a few of them outside when grabbing lunch and when we had the coffee breaks and fruit breaks, and it is the heartfelt messages you hear from them, especially about the one that was directed directly to the Ukrainian youth that has been so valuable as outputs. These are the lessons that I’m going to bring back to the Asia-Pacific regional IGF and the dynamic youth IGF we have in our region.
There is so much we can learn from each other. The beauty of the NRI network is really that it is a tapestry, there is no one-size-fits-all and this learning really enhances and strengthens our work together. IGFSA and I want to make these connections flourish. It is all of us that directly strengthens the IGF and ensure it is remains the premier space for all Internet Governance messages.
Thank you.
>> NADIA TJAHJA: Thank you very much.
I would then like to invite Thomas Schneider to the stage for the wrap up.
Please also welcome Sandra Hoferichter – not yet. Okay. Not yet.
>> THOMAS SCHNEIDER: Good evening, all of you here and everywhere.
This is the end of this year’s EuroDIG. We’ll try to be short.
One of the big things, of course, that we need to communicate or are happy to communicate, honored to communicate, it is that this is not the last EuroDIG ever in history, there will be another one. The next one, and the first thing, of course, it is the date and the place.
Let’s start with the date this time, the dates are – please note them down, it is 6 to 8 June, 2023, that’s next year and regarding the date, it is always a challenge and we have witnessed that this year again, June is a very heavy month in terms of meetings and conferences and we have been trying very, very, very hard to find a date that’s not in collision with other events that create conflicts for people to participate. Of course, our freedom is limited in the sense that also by the availability of venue, the future host has to follow, we have to follow, along, of course, and will is one coincidence we tried to avoid, we identified, there was no other options, conflict in that sense, coincidence that RIPE is taking place during the same dates in Latin America and so we’re willing and we have some signals that this may work out to actually not have this turn into a conflict but actually to seek cooperation with them and so maybe we get to organize a few joint sessions across the big sea so that, yeah, it is also there. The fact that there is a physical separation and people may be physically present in different parts of the world, we may do something together, this is something that we’re checking out and hopefully it will work.
This is something that was dear to us, also to all do the best we can to avoid conflicts of dates, of clashes of dates, yeah, apart from this, nothing is known so far to us that would collide with this.
Now to the place that we will hopefully physically and if not virtually go next year, there is something that Sandra has actually realized looking at where we have been in the past years, if we go back to 2017, our different locations, the 2020, 2021, 2022, we were pretty much in Trieste, this time for real. It struck us in the English language we have all of these places, they start with a T. That was not really planned. It is a funny coincidence. The question is, the big, big question, the 1 million-dollar question, it is now will the next venue, the next place also be a place that starts with T?
You will hear this very shortly because we will now see a video if the technicians are still alive because they have been working so hard.
We’ll applaud them later. We love them now. (Video playing).
Apparently again, there is another T. As Sandra talked about, five year cycles, we have now the five T cycle, that doesn’t mean that if you’re a potential future host city does not start with a T that you should not contact us and ask us whether we would have EuroDIG in your city.
Let me ask Markko to the stage. Go, take the floor and then you would probably like to say a few words.
>> MARKKO KUNNAPU: Well, thank you very much for selecting Finland. This is my hometown and the University, that’s my alma mater where I studied.
You saw glimpses of the university on the screen here. The University is the key component of the people who put this together. Basically what’s behind it, it is what we call the Finish Multistakeholder Internet Community and it is living and functioning community including ministry, including some industry, the name of which I’m not going to mention. Of course, it includes ISOC Finland, EFF Finland and others.
For the flag, I think it should be transferred not to me but to younger people. I would like to have the flag presented to a couple of ladies, one is a student from the university and one is an alumni.
For my part, thank you.
>> THOMAS SCHNEIDER: Thank you.
The flag is handed over to the Finnish youth. That makes sense, again, this is the European Year of The Youth and Markko is handing over the flag from one T to the next T. It is T and T, we look forward to an explosive discussion.
The floor is yours.
>> Hello, everyone.
First we want to say thank you. We are honored that EuroDIG will be organized for next year. I’m a researcher PhD and we have a fellow student. Besides us, there is a few more Finns here, if you may stand up, wave so that we can see you.
We’re all grateful for this honor. We young people, we don’t really remember the time before the internet. It is not a new thing for us. For example, I created my first own website when I was 9 years old. In these years, when I have grown, internet has grown and developed and every year it gains a bigger place in our life. Young people give a unique perspective in Internet Governance and our voice needs to be heard.
>> What is a better place to engage young people than a university? The place where the next generation of Internet Governance lives and breathes. Besides that, universities are also a unique place for encounters, places where experts and scientists from different fields can meet, discuss, share perspectives. Maybe we will find even more voices, more perspectives we have not heard yet.
To make this discussion that touches on almost every part of our lives even more multidisciplinary and more diverse.
We believe that this is the best place to start this University. The University is known for combining technical, social sciences, the two parts that make internet, the technology and the people that use it.
This is a beautiful, innovative city and it is exciting to be hosting the EuroDIG next year.
We hope to see you all next year.
Thank you.
>> SANDRA HOFERICHTER: Well, Thomas was supposed to hand over to me.
>> THOMAS SCHNEIDER: You didn’t tell me that. I thought you were – I thought you would take the floor yourself as a strong woman!
>> SANDRA HOFERICHTER: It doesn’t matter.
>> THOMAS SCHNEIDER: Maybe it was my mistake.
>> SANDRA HOFERICHTER: The really last, very important part comes, where we have to thank quite some people. Besides our former host, I say that in the opening already, who stayed with us in these dark times of the pandemic, kind of kept us going, encouraged us to move forward and renewed the invitation from year to year, I also have to thank the team.
First of all, Markko, Roberto, please come to the stage again.
At EuroDIG it is a tradition that the host gets the real digger, which is this little blue digger, and everyone who was a host in the past has one of those little diggers.
Roberto, I think you deserve a digger too! There is, indeed, a company, I think it is even an Italian company building a real EuroDIGer, a real EuroDIG, that’s why the similarity in names.
Then also something because one of the offices is based in Germany, something very tradition anger man for you. Thank you for staying with us in this, as I said, these dark times.
>> Thank you. Very much appreciate it. Thank you.
>> SANDRA HOFERICHTER: Please stay here.
Then I would also like to thank the team, of course. The most important person that you all possibly communicated with is my colleague Lionel, my left and right hand and became even more and more the brain – please come to the stage – he also became more and more part of this entire process and the brain of the programme planning process. Without you, we would all be lost. I can say that, he’s not only managing mailing lists, technical infrastructure, he’s also reminding me if something slips through, he’s really one of the most important team members.
Also Nadia, Nadia had a really hard time here, Nadia, please come here. In terms of that she was not only managing the youth participation, which I think she did wonderful, we could see the results in terms of the messages today, she was also moderating here, she had literally no breaks since she arrived here in Trieste.
Besides that, Nadia is also in the background preparing things like the slides, helping out with everything. Nadia this year, as a former YOUthDIGer became also a real integral part of the Secretariat. It is with Elizabeth, Elizabeth unfortunately had to catch a train, she also came out from YOUthDIG into the EuroDIG Secretariat and she is the one that’s managing all of the social media platforms, sending out the newsletter almost every week and as you could see her today, she was the stage Director being in constant contact with another really important partner that we have. This is the streaming company, you have seen the logo once in a while, I think we all agree that the technical component for this, it is the most important element on these conferences for the future. It is possibly not the food, possibly not the social event, although the social event as we realize today, it is important, but honestly, without the technical infrastructure and without the skills and the knowledge these things would not be possible in the future and we met with the streaming company just in the year of the pandemic. We were looking for expertise from a TV format, we had to stream, we had to do this online conference, and for them, the pandemic, because they were also coming from the music industry, doing great festivals across Europe, everything fell apart. Kind of we pulled each other into new business, they pulled us into their streaming business and we pulled them into the conference business and over the three year, we have really developed a great cooperation with them and looking actually forward that this is going to be continued. Thank you to the entire team up there.
The photographer is just sitting here! Then we had also a number of volunteers, two still have not arrived – they have just opened the door – yes! Carlotta! Sophie! In the moment! In the moment when we speak, they just arrived in time, it was perfect timing. They were managing the workshop rooms which were fully virtual this year. That was also really important and Vlad and his team, maybe you could also stand up, your team, they were managing the registration and being at the counter all the time. This is also something that usually is done with a big conference centre where you have a lot of staff. Since we had very limited resources this year, we were very, very thankful that you helped out here and there.
Let’s also give greetings to our captioning team, none of them is here, for them, the business has changed while they have been in the past always with us in person, this has been totally moved to online only, but I can promise you, we had a number of captioners in the background following all our sessions. As usual, you will see the transcripts online after EuroDIG.
I’m not sure if I – then, of course, the content work comes from the focal points, from the org teams, from the moderators. Without their input, the entire debate would not take place.
Also a big thank you to everyone that contributed with expertise, with knowledge as a speaker, a moderator, whatsoever to the EuroDIG and, of course, also Andrijana had to leave already, to catch a train, the Rapporteurs from the Geneva Internet Platform.
Without money, it would not work at all. I would namely thank in alphabetical order all of our donors to have them on the transcript at least once, not only on the picture, so in alphabetical order, we have our partner, Council of Europe, the European Broadcasting Union, the European Commission, the European Telecommunications Networks Operators Association, the Geneva Internet Platform, the Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers, together with the European Regional at Large Organization, the Internet Society, I say RIPE – my French is not good enough to say that right – managing IP addresses in case you don’t know that. Then the Swiss Office of Communication as well as a number of registries, and the Registry for .euro and .at.at and for .pt, DNSpt, for Norway, for the Netherlands, for the Swiss registry, the Swiss registry, it is switch.com as well as IGF Support Association and the UNDESA and Microsoft.
In addition, we also received a number of personal donations from individuals registering. Thank you very much. You keep us going.
>> Sandra will never thank herself, that’s the last thing for me to do, to thank you, Sandra, and, of course, everybody else, all of the volunteers. This wouldn’t – this thing would in the work, given the very limited resources that we have on all sides, and in particular, in this year, where it was probably the most ever difficult to plan and organize something. For the last few years at least we through it was virtual, this time you never knew who was actually able to make it here with planes canceled, what have you, it was a super difficult thing to organize this for all of us. Sandra, Reiner, Markko, Roberto, everybody was working extremely hard, many hours that are not paid for many of us.
Thank you for making this possible and I think we will not forget the good moments that we had here in Trieste. Thank you again. With this, of course, see you next year! Thank you!