One of the amazing events I’ve been to was the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) 2023, which took place in Brisbane, Australia. The APrIGF 2023 Overarching Theme is ” Emerging Technologies – Is Asia Pacific Ready for the Next Phase of the Internet?”. Young people and multi-stakeholders from various parts of Asia-Pacific have been invited to the table to discuss Internet governance. As a member of the CamyIGF 2023 organizing committee, I had the chance to interact and converse with a variety of stakeholders and young people from diverse regions.
I’ve never been this far away from home before, so I’m truly amazed by Brisbane, Australia’s beauty. From day 0 of the yIGF and APAC until the closing ceremony, I have learned immensely the primary role of youth in Internet governance, how we as young people are prepared to pursue these opportunities, and how we can contribute to the advancement of technology in our own society. The conference was hosted by the.au Domain Administration (auDA) sponsored by Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), APNIC Foundation, NETTHING 2023, Australian Government and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The IGF basically aims to inform young people about Internet governance. It also encourages the younger generation to engage in more deliberation and decision-making process.
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The program agenda for yIGF 2023 and APrIGF includes the APAC Youth Leader dialogue on Youth Power Building Collaborative Partnership for Youth Inclusion Internet Governance, a panel discussion on algorithmic decision-making and the future of the Internet, a round table discussion on cyberspace’s impact on youth digital wellbeing, and a meeting with industry experts. After each speaker’s presentation, there was an open floor dialogue followed by a panel discussion, where the speakers recap the discussion and receive follow-up questions from the participants. Participants can also ask their own questions to gain a deeper knowledge, and this is also one of the memorable moments when I see many enthusiastic young people and numerous stakeholders actively voicing their concerns!
One of the highlights for me was getting to practice public speaking and boosting my confidence in expressing my concerns to the general public by presenting our Youth policy statement. The statement was the result of our discussion during the conference when we were divided into four groups made up of representatives from the Civil Society, the Technical Community, the Government, and the Private Sector.
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Everyone can participate in voicing their concerns about issues relating to Internet governance by doing so through the Youth Policy Statement in the APrIGF Synthesis Document 2023. If you’re a Cambodian and are interested in learning more about Internet governance, join our Cambodia Youth Internet Governance Forum on September 23–24, 2023, at CADT!
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Finally, I want to express my deepest gratitude to NetMission and the DotAsia Organization for giving me the chance to learn about Internet governance and develop my active participation, networking, and cooperation skills. Moreover, a special thanks to the organizing committee, who made sure that everyone is on the same page while continuing to provide us with all the essential materials from the day before the event to the last day of the conference. They put in a lot of effort, and I’ve learned a lot from it, which has made me aspire to be like them. As a member of the yIGF 2023 Cambodia, I also want to offer my sincere gratitude to Open Development Cambodia for covering the cost of my roundtrip flight and visa.