The Belarus IGF forum, with a record number of participants, was held in Minsk.
The fifth Internet Governance Forum Belarus IGF-2023 was held on November 15 and generated a record number of participants. More than 500 representatives of government agencies, businesses, international and non-profit organizations, the academic and technical communities, as well as ordinary Internet users discussed the most pressing issues of Internet development.
This year's forum included 5 main areas of discussion:
- The Internet we want. Trends, problems, opportunities.
- How a false agenda is formed in the media, social networks, and Internet resources.
- Digital literacy as a basic information security tool.
- A crime weapon in your pocket: cybersecurity and how to protect yourself from threats.
- Personal data protection: practitioners' experience.
“The uniqueness of the IGF is its openness: anyone can propose a discussion topic, participate in the forum, and contribute to the development of the Internet,” says Sergei Povalishev, CEO of hoster.by (the organizer of the Belarus IGF). “I’m glad that the discussions turned out to be rich, this shows the importance of open dialogue between different parties.”
At the opening of the event, welcoming speeches were made by the Deputy Head of the Operational Analytical Center under the President of the Republic of Belarus Sergei Zhernosek, First Deputy Minister of Information of the Republic of Belarus Andrey Kuntsevich, First Deputy Minister of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus Pavel Tkach. They were joined by representatives of key international organizations responsible for the stable operation and development of the Internet: ICANN Senior Manager for Stakeholder Relations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia Mikhail Anisimov and Director for External Relations of the RIPE NCC Region of Central Asia and the Caucasus Vaan Hovsepyan.
Within the sections, everyone had the opportunity to ask questions to experts, share opinions, and participate in online voting on the most pressing issues.
The Belarus IGF National Forum has been taking place since 2016. The organizers are the largest registrar .BY and .БЕЛ domains, as well as the hosting and cloud solutions provider, hoster.by.