The Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was organized by the United Nations (UN), online, under the overarching theme “Internet for human resilience and solidarity.”
The IGF 2020 pre-events, newcomers sessions, thematic introductory sessions, as well as the Open Forums, National and Regional IGF Initiatives (NRIs) and Dynamic Coalition (DC) sessions were held on November 2–6, during the meeting's first phase. The second phase of the meeting took place on November 9- 17, including workshops, main sessions, the high-level leader's track, a parliamentary roundtable, and thematic concluding sessions.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) participated in IGF 2020 pre-event #30, “From principles to practice: Artificial Intelligence and the role of the private sector”, on November 3, and the pre-event #39 “OECD - policy responses from COVID19 and the digital economy”, on November 4. This is in addition to the event #21 “Strengthening implementation capacities for AI ethics”, on November 5.
The National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) participated in several events, in addition to its participation as a member in the UN Secretary-General’s Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum.
This year's Forum shed light on the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the digital environment, the best effective models for utilizing digital solutions in facing the pandemic, and the global governance mechanisms and tools required to mitigate the negative impact and make effective use of the internet in recovering from that negative impact on the global economy, and advancing economic and social development.
The Forum brought together experts and leaders from all stakeholder groups, including governments, civil society, private sector, technical communities, intergovernmental and international organizations, from different parts of the world, to engage in live discussions on some of today’s most pressing Internet governance and digital policy issues, from digital inclusion and data governance, to online trust and environmental sustainability.
IGF is a global multi-stakeholder platform that facilitates discussions on public policy issues pertaining to Internet governance. It was one of the most important outcomes of the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that mandated the United Nations Secretary-General to formally convene the Forum.
