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IGF 2023 WS #361 Support for innovation ecosystem in marginalized countries

    Subtheme

    Global Digital Governance & Cooperation
    Harmonising Global Digital Infrastructure

    Organizer 1: Eduardo Leal, Brazil IT Institute
    Organizer 2: Luiz Felipe Belisário Macedo, Federal University of Goiás (UFG)
    Organizer 3: Stella Anne Ming Hui Teoh, NetMission.Asia
    Organizer 4: Henrietta Ampofo, Ministry of health

    Speaker 1: Daniel Jr Dasig, Technical Community, Asia-Pacific Group
    Speaker 2: Denise Leal, Private Sector, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
    Speaker 3: James Amattey, Technical Community, African Group
    Speaker 4: Hermenegildo Almeida Chingamba , Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

    Moderator

    Stella Anne Ming Hui Teoh, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group

    Online Moderator

    Henrietta Ampofo, Government, African Group

    Rapporteur

    Luiz Felipe Belisário Macedo, Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

    Format

    Debate - 60 Min

    Policy Question(s)

    A. How can governments offer support for innovation ecosystems and hubs?
    B. What are the gaps in societal measures, emerging legislation and current regulatory frameworks regarding the role of governments in the topic of technology and innovation?
    C. In view of the diverse lives and societies that make up the global context, who is responsible for boosting innovation ecosystems?

    What will participants gain from attending this session? The session is expected to raise awareness about the importance of Government support for innovation ecosystems especially in marginalized countries, highlighting the challenges and best practices in this context, through summarizing data, strategies and experience reports.

    The participants will be able to make concrete recommendations to improve policies and regulations related to innovation ecosystems and will gain understanding of the work done by youth-led initiatives, accessing a report that summarizes the discussions, case analyses, and recommendations presented during the session; which will serve as a reference for researchers, policy makers, and practitioners involved in the field.

    It is expected to stimulate the engagement of youth leaders, policymakers and platforms, resulting in concrete actions to strengthen regulation and accountability. At the end we will invite participants to review our work and discuss our proposals, while the output of this session will be shared with governments, international and non-governmental organizations.

    Description:

    It is evident that the geography of innovation based on the globalized hub-hub ecosystem created a huge disparity between developed and developing economies. Our speakers from Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, will share the context given the innovation index of their regions and countries.

    To set the context, the discussion will begin with the exploration of Addis Ababa Messages from IGF 2022 pertinent to Global Digital Infrastructure. Our young panelists, leading the change in their respective domains, will discuss the current state of regulation and innovation ecosystems in their regions, and the instrumental role youth are playing towards progression.

    Brazil has lots of familiar business, small business and microenterprises, all of these models of entrepreneurs have difficulty in the access of IoT, innovation, and technology in general. This is the context of the Brazilian innovation program, called Brazil plus, a project of Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service which has already impacted over 117,000 companies, implementing innovation and technology solutions quickly and massively

    It is expected to expose the data of this initiative and bring data of the institutions of all other speakers and organizers, to demonstrate the possibilities of replicating the successful initiatives, and to question whether the governments are failing or not in their plannings and support actions or innovation ecosystems and hubs.

    Our young speakers will also reflect on who is responsible for boosting innovation ecosystems, whether in fact it should be the government, or whether it would be fair and possible to think of the private sector by itself controlling this process, and what mechanisms and regulations would be needed for this to become real. Finally, it’s also an important objective of the speakers and the session organizers to facilitate a platform of international cooperation on this theme.

    Expected Outcomes

    Session Outcomes:
    A- Identification of key challenges faced by marginalized groups in accessing and using technology and innovation ecosystems.
    B- Exchange of best practices and innovative approaches to promote equity, inclusion, and diversity in infrastructure for innovation ecosystems and hubs.
    C- policy recommendations and strategies to promote equitable access, representation, and effective use of technology.

    Specific Outcomes:
    A- Report summarizing the session. It will be shared online with IGF participants and stakeholders.
    B- Compilation of best practices and case studies that present successful initiatives and approaches to promote inclusion and equity in the use of technology for marginalized groups. This resource will be disseminated through online platforms.
    C- Follow-up event to continue the dialogue and build on the discussions and outcomes of the session. This event will provide opportunity for further collaboration, knowledge exchange, and development of concrete action plans to address the identified challenges.

    Hybrid Format: The session aims to facilitate a roundtable where participants will be part of the session itself.
    Tentative agenda:
    5’: Introduction and background. The moderator explains how the session will take place and points out that attendees can ask questions by using the hand-raising option or in the chat (online), or by requesting the floor (onsite).
    40’: The moderator introduces the policy issues and addresses the speakers with questions in a roundtable fashion.
    10’: Open floor. The moderator invites all participants to take the floor either online or onsite.
    5’: Key takeaways (rapporteur) and conclusions.

    The session is going to ensure interactions through a Q&A and comment section in the online application where the session will be taking place (e.g. Zoom). Both online and onsite moderators will make sure that the questions and comments are not overlooked through effective communication, but play an important role throughout the session