When I was on my last leg to Oslo through Bergensbanen after almost a week in Vestland county before the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) commenced, I had been pondering what mindset I should set for my first in-person IGF.
The five days in Lillestrøm, which is just a ten-minute train ride away from the Norwegian capital, felt different from the other public policy summits that I have been a part of. With over 250 sessions, the 20th IGF gathered close to 10,000 Internet governance practitioners and enthusiasts in Building Digital Governance Together.
In building digital governance together, there is a look back at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process over the past two decades and a look ahead to the implementation of Global Digital Compact (GDC) and the future of governance, as well as conversations on cybersecurity, digital services, subsea cables and artificial intelligence. Not only does the breadth of discussions seem all-encompassing, but great nuances on the same topic from different regions and communities also converge across the week. Despite a packed program schedule with sessions of interest identified prior, I wondered about the experience I want to curate for myself – a mission, perhaps.
Sure, there were clear roles and purposes to set foot in the Forum – moderate Workshop #70, amplify the call-to-actions from the Asia Pacific Policy Observatory (APPO) and put on the hats of a coordinator of a National and Regional IGF Initiative (NRI) and a NetMission Advisory Board Member. However, I was still in search of my own “deliverable outcomes” other than my “deliverables” during the Forum.
Putting aside those that I had an organizing role in, there has almost always been an overarching role throughout with specific outcomes set in events and engagement that would contribute to the broader narratives and advocacies. There were specific issues of interest and parties to meet with that correspond to my corporate public policy roles. Most recently at the 2024 Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF), my mission was to support the three fellows of the S.M.A.R.T.I. fellowship that I curated.
Pinpointing my positioning at the global IGF with all-encompassing topics and perspectives was challenging – until I attended the Giganet Annual Academic Symposium on Day 0, where one of the speakers shared his take when debating about the future of WSIS.
“IGF for me, I consider myself a tourist in the Internet governance space. My chance to get out of my bubble and hear interesting things.”
Engagement with appreciation, adventurous with spontaneity and mindfulness with introspection. The concept of “tourist” dawned on me. As I ventured out as a citizen tourist, it offered me the opportunity to re-explore and explore the unexplored.
Step Back, Out and Forward
By being a citizen tourist at IGF 2025, I stepped back to look at the world of the Internet and its governance. Having gazed into an issue before entering without an established lens and letting speakers be the guides allowed me to tour around the issues through their lens. It also helped me map the global Internet governance ecosystem better and apprehend key institutions’ functions and coordination amongst them in governing this space.
Such a mindset emboldened me to step out of my bubbles to engage with people from other bubbles, step out and dip into new bubbles that I find interesting, and occasionally invite others to step out into my Internet governance bubbles.
This has been a very mindful practice as I continue to step forward in my Internet governance journey, especially at a time when I am broadening my focus beyond the Asia-Pacific and North America to further understand the European and the Global South contexts.
And before I realized, being in sessions that I am not familiar with, learning new acronyms, bumping into people from unfamiliar organisations and visiting the 70 other booths at the IGF village have made me a more well-versed digital citizen.
This is the power of having a space that values multistakeholderism; this is the power of the Internet Governance Forum.
As I chugged the last bit of Solo (Norwegian orange-favoured soft drink) before airport security, I am considering my IGF 2025 mission achieved, but yet to be accomplished in building digital governance together as a citizen tourist.
Ha det bra!
By Kenneth Leung