The Asia Pacific Youth IGF 2022 (yIGF) has concluded at the National Library Board in Singapore with a hybrid format on 10th and 11th September 2022, with a well-attended record with 25 onsite participants and 21 remote participants from 13 different countries, and 4 remote participants joining from the Taiwan local hub.
“Youth@Crossroads: Trusting in a Common Future With No One Left Behind” is the theme of the yIGF this year. The advancement of technology and global Internet connectivity have accelerated the spread of information, human progress, and innovation across diverse areas. While we are experiencing the benefits of the improvement of the Internet, the pandemic has changed the way we live.
In the past decades, we have been addressing the rapidly changing development of technology and its impacts on us. With an online presence comes the realization that the world we’re living in is a data-centric one, how are we going to minimize the impacts and inequality within the marginalized communities across the globe? How are we going to govern digital technology before the issues of digital divide part our world into two extremes?
Resonating with the overarching theme of the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF), our 2-day program covered a wide range of topics, from algorithm bias to cybercrime, to transformation under the influence of Metaverse, NFT, and other emerging technologies with 21 guest speakers from different backgrounds, ages, and countries. By exploring the possibility to address and tackle the issues of inequality and introducing a more inclusive policy-making and discussion process, we wish to redefine the existing normality, eliminate systematic bias and engender equality with no one left behind.
This year, we managed to co-organize the yIGF along with more than 10 youth NRIs or initiatives from the Asia Pacific region and had a Youth Leaders Dialogue with leaders of different initiatives to explore strategies for the enhancement of youth participation and Asia-Pacific representation at the global level. It was our pleasure to invite speakers from different initiatives, including Grace Huang and Cheng Peng (TWSIG), Jae-Won Son and Jae-Young Lee (VOY@IG), Phyo Thiri Lwin and Zin Myo Htet (yIGF Myanmar), Astari Yanuartii and Bhredipta Socarana (Indonesian yIGF), and Ananda Gautam (Youth IGF Nepal), to kick-start the discussion by sharing their experiences as a youth in leadership in the Internet governance community.
We are honored to have invited Natalie Pang (NUS), Shah Zahidur Rahman and Pavitra Ramanujam (APrIGF MSG members), John Panes (SGV, EY Philippines), and Aris Ignacio (Southville International School and Colleges) to join one of the sessions to “redefine” the Internet Governance ABCs with our next generation. It was our pleasure to also have invited Dr. Nirosha Wedasinghe (General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University), Wan Hafiz Irshad (Co-founder of Hackstitute), Fernanda Galera Soler (Faculty of Law of the Universidade de São Paulo), and Dr. Hafizul Fahri HANAFI Ph.D. (Sultan Idris Education University) as panelists at the session about growing up with the influence of Metaverse and NFT.
With our strategic design of the yIGF program this year, the yIGF organizing committee guaranteed the contribution from the youth community will be reflected in the synthesis document and the discussion in the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) 2022, as well as the youth statements developed by all our youth participants at the yIGF.
Youth – is our future; crossroads – because youth is in transitions in education and in their stage of life. This explains why inclusion, trust, and sustainability in Internet governance are critical to our future in the light of digital transformation. We believe collaboration is the first step toward inclusion and meaningful participation. Youth is taking action to get our inputs acknowledged, get our efforts recognized, get our ideas valued, and get our voices heard. We, the youth, are taking this one step, and inviting all of you to make this baby step a big one together.
Lastly, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our yIGF organizing committee – Luke Teoh, Stella Teoh, Bea Guevarra, Lam Nha Truc, Tien Nguyen Dao, Sourojit Dutta; our online facilitators – Moh. Fahim Mayar (Afghanistan), Lam Nha Truc (Vietnam), Astari Yanuarti (Indonesia), Allen P Alex (India), and our youth moderator from the Taiwan local hub – Cheng Peng (TWNIC). As well as all our supporting organizations, DotAsia Organisation, APNIC Foundation, Internet Society Foundation, TWNIC (Taiwan), and KISA (South Korea) for supporting the events, introducing and bringing youth representatives from their home country to the Asia Pacific yIGF, and making our meeting such a productive one.
The report of yIGF 2022 Singapore will be published later this year in 2022, you may click here to find out more. You may also go to the yIGF website to learn more about this year’s program.
