Session
Organizer 1: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Organizer 2: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Organizer 3: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Organizer 4: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Organizer 5: Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 6: Technical Community, African Group
Organizer 7: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Organizer 2: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Organizer 3: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Organizer 4: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Organizer 5: Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 6: Technical Community, African Group
Organizer 7: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 1: Michele Neylon, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Olatunde Awobuluyi, Technical Community, African Group
Speaker 3: Silvia Albuquerque, Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 2: Olatunde Awobuluyi, Technical Community, African Group
Speaker 3: Silvia Albuquerque, Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Format
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 30
Format description: A 30-minute roundtable workshop is ideal for fostering dynamic and inclusive discussions on the risks of shallow technical knowledge in Internet governance. The roundtable format encourages active participation and collaboration, allowing for diverse perspectives from panelists and attendees. The shorter duration ensures focused and efficient discussions, maximizing engagement while maintaining participant interest. The format promotes an open and informal exchange of ideas, making it easier for non-technical participants to engage with technical experts and ask questions. By emphasizing interaction and dialogue, the roundtable creates a space for real-time problem-solving and collaborative brainstorming. This approach supports the development of actionable strategies, empowering attendees to better address technical issues and strengthen governance practices. The format’s flexibility also allows the moderator to adapt the discussion flow based on participant input, ensuring a rich and impactful exchange within the allotted time. This makes the workshop both efficient and effective.
Duration (minutes): 30
Format description: A 30-minute roundtable workshop is ideal for fostering dynamic and inclusive discussions on the risks of shallow technical knowledge in Internet governance. The roundtable format encourages active participation and collaboration, allowing for diverse perspectives from panelists and attendees. The shorter duration ensures focused and efficient discussions, maximizing engagement while maintaining participant interest. The format promotes an open and informal exchange of ideas, making it easier for non-technical participants to engage with technical experts and ask questions. By emphasizing interaction and dialogue, the roundtable creates a space for real-time problem-solving and collaborative brainstorming. This approach supports the development of actionable strategies, empowering attendees to better address technical issues and strengthen governance practices. The format’s flexibility also allows the moderator to adapt the discussion flow based on participant input, ensuring a rich and impactful exchange within the allotted time. This makes the workshop both efficient and effective.
Policy Question(s)
A. How can Internet governance processes ensure that technical expertise is adequately integrated into policymaking to avoid misjudged informed decisions?
B. What are the most effective strategies to unite both technical and non-technical stakeholders in areas like cybersecurity and digital infrastructure for better policymaking in Internet Governance?
C. How can multi-stakeholder approaches promote capacity-building initiatives to improve technical literacy among policymakers, civil society, and other Internet governance participants?
What will participants gain from attending this session? By attending this workshop, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the risks associated with shallow technical knowledge in Internet governance and how these gaps can lead to poorly informed policies, stifled innovation, and heightened cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
The session will provide actionable insights through real-world examples, illustrating the importance of aligning technical realities with governance frameworks. Participants will learn practical strategies to bridge knowledge gaps, including fostering collaboration between technical experts and non-technical stakeholders, leveraging capacity-building initiatives, and promoting informed decision-making processes.
Additionally, attendees will take away access to resources and best practices to enhance technical literacy, empowering them to actively contribute to more effective and inclusive Internet governance. This workshop is an invaluable opportunity to build knowledge, share experiences, and foster partnerships for addressing this critical challenge in the digital age.
Description:
This workshop explores the main risks posed by insufficient technical understanding in Internet governance discussions and decision-making. As technology evolves rapidly, stakeholders without adequate technical literacy may unintentionally create poorly informed policies, stifle innovation, or increase cybersecurity vulnerabilities. For example, in Brazil it is possible to observe this issue with new laws proposals that are clearly impossible to be technically doable. The session will focus on the challenges of aligning governance frameworks with technical realities, highlighting the consequences of superficial knowledge in areas such as cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and regulatory compliance. Through real-world examples such as IPv6 policy making and content censorship, the panel will illustrate how the lack of technical expertise can lead to unintended outcomes, from ineffective policies to exacerbating the digital divide. The discussion will also emphasize solutions to this problem. Panelists will explore strategies to bridge the knowledge gap, including fostering stronger collaborations between technical experts and policymakers, promoting capacity-building initiatives, and encouraging multi-stakeholder approaches to Internet governance. Attendees will gain actionable insights into the importance of technical literacy and practical recommendations to enhance engagement between technical and non-technical stakeholders. This session will benefit all stakeholders, such as policymakers, civil society representatives, and technical community members by fostering mutual understanding and ensuring informed, inclusive decision-making in Internet governance.
This workshop explores the main risks posed by insufficient technical understanding in Internet governance discussions and decision-making. As technology evolves rapidly, stakeholders without adequate technical literacy may unintentionally create poorly informed policies, stifle innovation, or increase cybersecurity vulnerabilities. For example, in Brazil it is possible to observe this issue with new laws proposals that are clearly impossible to be technically doable. The session will focus on the challenges of aligning governance frameworks with technical realities, highlighting the consequences of superficial knowledge in areas such as cybersecurity, digital infrastructure, and regulatory compliance. Through real-world examples such as IPv6 policy making and content censorship, the panel will illustrate how the lack of technical expertise can lead to unintended outcomes, from ineffective policies to exacerbating the digital divide. The discussion will also emphasize solutions to this problem. Panelists will explore strategies to bridge the knowledge gap, including fostering stronger collaborations between technical experts and policymakers, promoting capacity-building initiatives, and encouraging multi-stakeholder approaches to Internet governance. Attendees will gain actionable insights into the importance of technical literacy and practical recommendations to enhance engagement between technical and non-technical stakeholders. This session will benefit all stakeholders, such as policymakers, civil society representatives, and technical community members by fostering mutual understanding and ensuring informed, inclusive decision-making in Internet governance.
Expected Outcomes
The session will highlight the importance of bridging knowledge gaps and provide actionable strategies to foster collaboration between technical experts and non-technical stakeholders.
Key outcomes include:
-A set of practical recommendations for integrating technical expertise into governance processes
-Incentive of creation of technical discussion working groups inside governance processesses
-Raise awareness of existing resources and capacity-building initiatives to enhance technical literacy.
-Practical examples of successful multi-stakeholder collaborations to address knowledge gaps.
These outcomes aim to empower participants to advocate for and implement informed, inclusive, and effective Internet governance practices. By fostering a shared understanding of technical challenges, this workshop will contribute to more resilient and innovative digital policies.
Hybrid Format: The workshop will be structured to encourage active participation and meaningful dialogue among panelists and attendees. The onsite moderator will guide the session, beginning with a brief introduction to frame the issue and present real-world examples of the risks posed by shallow technical knowledge in Internet governance.
Panelists from diverse stakeholder groups will then share their perspectives and experiences, ensuring a balanced and inclusive discussion. To maximize audience engagement, an interactive Q&A segment will follow using Kahoot platform, allowing participants to pose questions, share insights, and suggest ideas for addressing the knowledge gap.
To foster collaboration, the session will include prompts for group discussion on actionable strategies, such as capacity-building initiatives and tools for bridging technical and non-technical expertise. The moderator will conclude by summarizing key takeaways and encouraging participants to continue the conversation beyond the workshop, ensuring lasting impact and knowledge-sharing.