IGF 2024 Open Forum #42 Global Digital Cooperation: Ambition to Country-Level Action

IGF Open Forum #42: Advancing Global Digital Cooperation from Ambition to Country-Level Action 

The session on advancing global digital cooperation, framed under the Global Digital Compact (GDC), brought together key stakeholders, including government representatives, UN agencies, technical communities, and think tanks. The event featured interactive discussions and panel exchanges aimed at identifying priorities and actionable steps to address digital transformation challenges and opportunities at the country level. The session was particularly relevant as it underscored the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration, inclusivity, and concrete actions to close the digital divide and accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

This Open Forum brought together a distinguished group of speakers representing governments, international organizations and think tanks. The panel featured Margarita Gómez, Olaf Kolkman, Cynthia Lesufi, Robert Opp, Gitanjali Sah, and Deniz Susar and was moderated by Yu Ping Chan. It surfaced a number of key themes:  

• The importance of aligning the GDC with national needs. Robert Opp, UNDP Chief Digital Officer, underscored the multifaceted challenges countries face in their digital transformation journeys. These challenges, he explained, often revolve around strategy development, technological choices, and capacity building, with a growing demand for guidance on building AI ecosystems. Opp highlighted the alignment between the GDC and such needs, emphasizing its unprecedented inclusion of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). Referring to the upcoming WSIS+20 review, he advocated for updating action lines to better address emerging digital realities. 

• Capacity building as a cornerstone of realizing the GDC’s vision. Cynthia Lesufi, Minister Counsellor for the South African Mission to the UN Office and other International Organisations in Geneva, stressed that the GDC represents an opportunity to foster global partnerships while addressing barriers faced by low-income countries. For South Africa, capacity building stands out as a cornerstone of inclusive digital transformation, particularly in training the workforce on AI, cybersecurity, and blockchain technologies. Lesufi noted that partnerships with the public and private sectors are essential to bridge existing gaps and ensure countries can fully leverage digital tools. 

• The role of local engagement and partnerships. Olaf Kolkman, Principal of Internet Technology Policy and Advocacy at the Internet Society, underscored the critical role of partnerships and local engagement in achieving universal connectivity. He painted a vision of inclusive digital progress, where technologists work hand-in-hand with communities to understand real needs, ensuring that solutions are relevant and scalable. Kolkman emphasized that local experiences, when elevated to national and global levels, can drive impactful solutions. 

• Delivering through inclusion and innovation. Margarita Gómez, Executive Director of Southern Voice, a network of think tanks across the Global South, highlighted the urgent need to close the digital divide through digital literacy, women’s inclusion, and infrastructure development. Gómez stressed the importance of local innovation and involving marginalized groups in the design and implementation of digital solutions. She described Southern Voice’s role in identifying local priorities and ensuring they are reflected in global conversations, advocating for a bottom-up approach that amplifies voices from the Global South. 

• Accelerating SDG progress through multistakeholder cooperation. Deniz Susar of UNDESA and Gitanjali Sah of ITU reinforced the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation to accelerate SDG progress through digital tools and the role that existing forums and mechanisms can play in GDC implementation. Susar highlighted the GDC’s alignment with the WSIS+20 framework and its potential to foster inclusive policies at the country level. Similarly, Sah underscored ITU’s work in supporting member states and partners with initiatives like GIGA, which brings connectivity to schools globally, and collaborative projects with UNDP that advance DPI. 

Interactive polling throughout the session generated further insights from audience participants. Reflecting on GDC priorities, participants highlighted the importance of multistakeholder cooperation and inclusion. Participants also identified a number of actionable steps to be taken at the country level, including alignment, capacity building, and addressing challenges like the gender divide, equity, and infrastructure gaps, with political will, inclusive participation, and partnerships.  

There are three key takeaways from the discussion:  

1. The adoption of the GDC marks a significant milestone for inclusive digital transformation, but its ambition must be translated into country-level action. By identifying key principles and priorities, the GDC can empower countries to focus on tangible outcomes. However, connecting global policy discussions to national and local action will be critical to success. 

2. Secondly, digital capacity building and literacy emerged as top priorities for GDC implementation. While this includes supporting policymakers, it is equally crucial to deliver targeted capacity-building programs for women, girls, and marginalized communities. Civil society and the private sector have an essential role to play in this process. 

3. Finally, inclusive multistakeholder partnerships will be the linchpin for delivering the GDC’s vision. Leveraging existing platforms such as the IGF and WSIS processes, rather than creating new frameworks, will be key to ensuring effective coordination. The upcoming WSIS+20 review presents a unique opportunity to evaluate progress and align global efforts with GDC implementation. 

Participants also identified two calls to action:  

1. Put inclusion at the center of all digital cooperation initiatives and recognize that digital divides are intersectional. 

2. Work with local stakeholders to understand key needs and opportunities to develop more effective and sustainable solutions.