Program launched to encourage youth participation in IGF 2015

07 AGO 2015

The Brazilian Internet Steering Committee - CGI.br (Comitê Gestor da Internet no Brasil – CGI) together with the Internet Society (ISOC) launch on Friday (17) the Youth@IGF program which seeks to strengthen the participation and leadership of young people during the 10th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) to be held on the 10-14 November in the city of João Pessoa, State of Paraíba, Brazil. Directed at people in the 18 to 25 year old age groups from the Latin American and Caribbean region, the program consists of an online course, discussion threads and scholarship for participation in the Forum. Registration is open now and enrollments can be made until 27/07 via the website at: http://igf2015.br/pt-BR/program-youth-igf/ .

The Youth@IGF program was launched during the closure of the V Internet Forum in Brazil and the Brazilian Pre IGF 2015 (V Fórum da Internet no Brasil e Pré IGF Brasileiro 2015 ) which was held in Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last. The program derived from a CGI.br resolution which created a Working Group for Increased Latin American Youth Participation in the IGF, and took inspiration from the successful work done by national and international programs, such as the NetMission.asia INSAFE, Dynamo and SaferNet Brazil, which together with the companies Google, Intel and Yahoo! have expressed interest to participate and support the initiative.

The first phase of the Youth@IGF program is the online course and will draw on the experience of CGI.br and ISOC in training on Internet governance issues. 120 participants will be selected for the course that will last for four weeks and will be taught in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The modules will cover introduction to governance; actors and interest groups; infrastructure, standards; protocols and principles.

All participants of the first phase of the program will be invited to choose one of three discussion threads to increase knowledge: innovation and entrepreneurship, privacy and security and governance of the Internet. From the students at the course, 60 young people who have demonstrated leadership, commitment and dedication will be chosen to receive scholarships for participation in IGF Brazil 2015. There will be specific activities at the event location, including regular meetings to monitor the group's activities and mentor support. The scholarship includes travel costs, food and accommodation.

About the IGF

1. Coordinated by the United Nations, the IGF is a multistakeholder, democratic and transparent forum, which facilitates and enables discussions on public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance. This year's event in the Brazilian city of João Pessoa, State of Paraíba, will focus on 'Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development', which will be supported by eight sub-themes delineating the discussions at the meeting: cyber security and trust, the Internet economy, inclusion and diversity, accesses openness, strengthening cooperation with multistakeholders, Internet and Human Rights, critical Internet recourses and emerging questions.

2. In addition to the incentives for young Latin Americans to participate in the Youth@IGF program, CGI.br also provides all the production logistics necessary for the realization of the Forum, offering all necessary infrastructures, and the active participation of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), which advises the UN Secretary General and contributes to the IGF organization. Up to the present, Brazil is the only country to host the IGF twice; the first in Rio de Janeiro in 2007.

About the Brazilian Network Information Center and Coordination of the .BR – NIC.br

The Brazilian Network Information Center and Coordination of the .BR – NIC.br (http://www.nic.br/ is a civil, non-profit organization which implements the decisions and the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee projects in Brazil. The permanent activities of NIC.br include: coordinating the registration of domain names - Registro.br (http://www.registro.br/), study, reply and handle security incidents in Brazil - CERT.br (http://www.cert.br/), study and research technologies of networks and technologies -Ceptro.br (http://www.ceptro.br/, produce indicators on information and communication technologies - Cetic.br (http://www.cetic.br/), promote and encourage the evolution of the Web in Brazil - Ceweb.br (http://www.ceweb.br/ and provide housing for the W3C office in Brazil (http://www.w3c.br/).

About the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee – CGI.br

The Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, responsible for establishing strategic guidelines relating to the use and development of the Internet in Brazil, coordinates and integrates all the initiates of Internet service in the country, promoting the technical quality, the innovation and the dissemination of the offered services. Based on the principles of multisectorialism and transparency, CGI.br is an internationally- praised model of governance for a democratic Internet, in which all sectors of society participate equitably in the decisions. One of its compositions is entitled The 10 Principles for the Governance and Use of the Internet (http://www.cgi.br/principios) - more information at http://www.cgi.br/.

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