Get ready to be immersed in the forefront of digital discourse as the 18th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2023 unfolds in Kyoto, Japan from 8 to 12 October, under the theme The Internet We Want – Empowering All People. LIRNEasia will host two sessions featuring experts from the Global South, along with LIRNEasia CEO, Helani Galpaya, Senior Research Manager, Gayani Hurulle, and Senior Researcher, Isuru Samaratunga. Helani will participate at two additional sessions. Here’s a sneak peek at the sessions; scroll down to find out how to register to attend in person or online.

1: Public-Private Data Partnerships in the Global South (Session #308)

• Zoom registration link (IGF 2023 Room 3)
• Session page

This round table discussion will explore how the private sector is contributing to the data revolution toward achieving the SDGs, and the key policy and practice challenges faced by stakeholders in attempting to build data partnerships in this regard. The session will also explore ways of overcoming these challenges, and how the incentives of those that collect, hold, use, broker and facilitate data, might be aligned to achieve SDG objectives. The session is co-organised by LIRNEasia and Cepei, and will be moderated by CEO Helani Galpaya, with speakers including:

• • Mike Flannagan – Microsoft
  • Philipp Schönrock – CEPEI
  • Rodrigo Iriani – The Trust for the Americas
  • Darlington Ahiale Akogo – minoHealth AI Labs
  • Mona Demaidi – An-Najah National University
  • Isuru Samaratunga – LIRNEasia

2: Taxing Tech Titans: Policy Options for the Global South (Session #443)

• Zoom registration link (IGF 2023 Room 4)
• Session page

In the context of the growing digital economy, many Global South countries grapple with the question of how to obtain tax revenue from technology multinationals which operate in, and derive profits from these countries. This session will explore the different digital taxation policy options available to countries in the Global South (treaty based as well as unilateral approaches), through a debate format. The session will focus on whether countries in the Global South should align with the OECD solution, with a specific focus on whether countries should sign up for the OECD’s Amount A Multilateral Convention, on which countries are expected to take on stance by end 2023. The session is co-organised by LIRNEasia and the South Centre, and will be moderated by CEO Helani Galpaya, with speakers including:

• • Abdul Muheet Chowdhary, Senior Programme Officer, South Centre
  • Alison Gillwald, Executive Director, Research ICT Africa
  • Gayani Hurulle, Senior Research Manager, LIRNEasia
  • Victoria Hyde, Policy and Communications Manager, Asia Internet Coalition
  • Mathew Olusanya Gbonjubola, Coordinating Director, Federal Inland Revenue Service – Nigeria (Co-Chair, UN Tax Committee)

You can also listen to Helani speaking at the following events too

3. A Global Compact for Digital Justice: Southern Perspectives (Session #79)

• Date: Sunday 8 October 2023 (Day 0)
• Time: 16.00-19.00 JST / 07.00-10.00 UTC
• Location: WS 9 – Room C-2
• Session page

CEO Helani Galpaya will participate at this pre-event, which is organised by IT for Change. The session will discuss how to centre the vision of digital justice for the majority world in the global Digital Compact, with a specific focus on the sustainable development agenda.

4. Human Rights Law and the Global Digital Compact (Session #24)

• Date: Tuesday 10 October 2023 (Day 2)
• Time: 15.15-16.45 JST / 06.15-07.45 UTC
• Location: WS10 – Room 1
• Session page
• Session registration

This session is organised by the Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition (IRPC). The dynamic coalition sets out to promote and provide a space for multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration and aims to be an umbrella platform for facilitating collaboration on human rights issues in the Internet Governance Forum process. In this session participants discuss how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent human rights law can guide the further development of the Global Digital Compact (GDC).

5. Connecting Open Code with Policymakers to Development (Session #500)

• Date: Wednesday 11 October 2023 (Day 3)
• Time: 08.45-10.15  JST / 23.45(10/Oct)-01.15 (11/Oct) UTC
• Location: WS2 – Room A
• Session page

CEO Helani Galpaya will also participate at this session, which is organised by GitHub. The session  seeks to address questions such as what are the data needs and challenges that international development, public policy and economics researchers have that are currently unmet and how can private sector data fill this gap? What are the current indicators of technology maturity, technology ecosystems, and digital literacy in a country? How can private sector technology platform metrics create a more robust and nuanced picture of these areas? And what are their potential limitations? What are the challenges in obtaining, using private sector data for development purposes especially in ‘data deserts’?

Register to participate (in person or online) here.  Find the full conference schedule here. We invite you to engage in these thought-provoking sessions, in person and virtually, contributing to the global dialogue on shaping the future of the Internet. Your participation matters – lets shape the internet we all want together. See you at IGF 2023!

(Updated: 10.10.2023; 18.27 IST)