IGF2021

The 2021 IGF Programming Committee holds regular meeting on every first Wednesday of each month, bringing together representatives of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, NASK, the Office of Electronic Communications, Chamber of Electronic Economy, NGOs, academia and legal experts, who deal with the issue of digitalisation. The latest meeting has just finished.

6-10 December 2021 – that is when the Internet Governance Forum will be held in Katowice. The capital of Silesia will welcome thousands of guests from all over the world. who will talk about the future of the global Internet.

This is an event that has never taken place in Poland before, and the preparations are in full swing. That is what the members of the Programming Committee talked about on Wednesday.

The first thing on the agenda was the Youth IGF (YIGF 2021), which accompanies the Summit. However, the first event linked to the Summit will take place later this month – on April 22 – it will be first webinar for youth from all over the world, which we are going to organise together with the UN, NASK and young people from YIGF Poland.

This first webinar in the series will be devoted to digital sustainability and green Internet. The second webinar will be held in May.

April will also see another information meeting on 2021 IGF, bringing together representatives of foreign diplomatic missions to Poland. Nearly 70 people from 56 diplomatic missions have already declared their attendance.

We are also planning to hold a meeting with university rectors.

“We are very keen to see students and the young generation to take part in the debate on the Internet, as their voice is extremely important,” said members of the Programming Committee during the meeting. 

The Programming Committee also talked about suggested topics of the debates held during the 2021 IGF. Here is an important reminder – everybody can have an impact on what topics are the participants going to talk about during the 2021 IGF.

You have a unique opportunity to contribute to the agenda of this year’s IGF. All you have to do is to submit your suggestion for a workshop, panel discussion or event – we are looking forward to seeing your ideas. We are waiting for your submissions until 31 May this year. Just fill in the submission form.

We encourage Polish companies, organisations and institutions to submit their ideas!

Why is this so important? We want Polish initiatives to be visible during the 2021 IGF, since it is an opportunity to make the world hear about them.

In December, Poland will be at the heart of worldwide debate on the future of the Internet. We expect thousands of guests from all over the world to join us at the International Congress Centre in Katowice.

The IGF is an international initiative of the UN geared towards initiating and facilitating a global debate on the development of the Internet, as well as the current and emergent phenomena related to its functioning. The meetings are attended by heads of state from all over the world, representatives of businesses, including the largest and best-known Internet companies, as well as NGOs and academia. Both theoreticians and practitioners.

The headline of the 16th Internet Governance Forum in 2021, which Poland is going to host in several months’ time is Internet United – a free, united and common Internet for all.

See you in Katowice!