BH Internet
Governance Forum

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ABOUT

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was initiated as a direct result of the World Summit on Information Society (UN World Summit on Information Society, WSIS) which began under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva in 2003 and continued in Tunisia in 2005. The IGF event on a global level has been convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations since 2006. This year it will be held in Kyoto (Tokio) under the overarching theme “Internet We Want - Empowering All People''. It is organized as a multistakeholder platform to discuss Internet governance issues in a bottom-up, open and inclusive manner. It welcomes representatives from civil society, government, the private sector, the technical community, academia, as well as media.

The IGF is an international fora for discussions and cooperation on topics related to the development of the information society, Internet management and challenges around the Internet in general. The IGF is not a decision-making body, but a forum where defined problems and discussed approaches can be shaped into public, international or national policies and forwarded to other bodies - whether within the UN or other international organizations or governments - for consideration.

IGFs, especially at national and regional levels, tend to produce practical ideas for intersessional activities by participants themselves and result in changes and successes which are then presented in the next yearly gathering.

The IGF in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH IGF) took place in 2015, 2016, and 2017. It is part of the national and regional initiatives (NRI) network of the global IGF. It has been organized in the multi-actor spirit of the IGF, as a joint initiative of several organizations and institutions.

On October 2, 2023, after five years of gap, the BH IGF 2023 will take place in Sarajevo (Hotel Novotel) from 09:30 - 14:00. The participation is free with prior registration at the event page.

The organizing multistakeholder committee for 2023 consists of BIRN BiH, the Cybersecurity Excellence Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina (CSEC), BHNIX.ba, Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faculty of Political Science University of Sarajevo, Logosoft.

BH IGF is supported by the British embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Internet Society Foundation (ISOC), and Hanns Seidel Stiftung in Sarajevo

After the welcome and key speeches, plenary session will comprise more general views about the absence of a systematic approach to Internet governance and human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, after which the program will split into three parallel sessions focusing on: cybersecurity; freedom of expression & media and denial of genocide and war crimes narratives online; and violence against women and marginalized through information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Each session will result in key messages which will be conveyed at the global IGF 2023 in Kyoto, Tokio as part of the bottom-up inclusive process.

For more information, visit the BH IGF 2023 agenda