IGF 2022 Ethiopia

The 17th IGF, under the overarching theme Resilient Internet for a Shared Sustainable and Common Future, will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 28 November to 2 December 2022. The meeting programme is guided by five themes drawn from the Global Digital Compact in the UN Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report. The IGF 2022 Call for Session Proposals invites stakeholders to propose sessions on those themes and is open until 3 June 2022.

A Fully Hybrid IGF

The 17th annual IGF will be hosted in a hybrid format. The meeting will aim at accommodating the participation of stakeholders present onsite in Addis Ababa or participating online in an equitable manner. This hybrid approach also extends to the session organizing teams (organizers, speakers, moderators and rapporteurs) who will participate online or onsite. 

The overall objective is to make participation in IGF 2022 meaningful and inclusive for all participants. 

Elements of the hybrid format are currently under careful review by organizers.

Participating Platform

The 17th IGF will be hosted on a unique digital platform where meeting discussions will take place in an equal manner for all participants, regardless if they connect from the venue or any other part of the world. 

The17th IGF interactive programme will also be accessible through a dedicated mobile application.

3D Venue

The 17th IGF venue in Addis Ababa will have its digital 3D equivalent. Online participants will the opportunity to enter meeting rooms virtually and connect to the participating platform, as onsite participants do.

IGF Village

The IGF Village, made up of dozens of booths organized by different organizations at the venue, will also have 3D booth equivalents, which all participants can visit through the IGF 2022 platform. The materials available at the physical booths will be available at the 3D booths.

Rooms

As noted above, 17th IGF sessions may have speakers/moderators/rapporteurs participating entirely online or in a mixed setting. Regardless, each session will be allocated a physical room at the venue with a screen projecting the Zoom room, as well as onsite and online support staff for session implementation.

Time Zone

The time zone of the meeting programme corresponds to the host country time zone. Discussions are underway for extending standard hours to accommodate as many time zones as possible. For those challenged by the time zone difference, or who may simply have other commitments, there will be an opportunity to communicate interventions beforehand or after the session. Interventions beforehand can be informed by an individual session’s concept note, which will be made available on the IGF website, while those after a session has taken place will be able to draw on the session report, posted up to 12 hours after the session ends, as well as the transcript and video recording, made available shortly after the session ends.

Hybrid Feedback

Whether participants engage in sessions live onsite or online, or asynchronously (perhaps due to time zone difficulties) and watch session recordings, they will be able to register their input with session organizers using session-specific hashtags. All comments can be made on social media – with Twitter the preferred platform for ease of use – and tagged according to the guidelines here. Session organizers will be advised by the Secretariat to scan Twitter for comments and take them into account for their reports. 

Bilateral Meetings

Bilateral meeting rooms will support online participation.

Networking

Social events at the 17th IGF will also be accessible to online participants. Networking sessions will be hosted in a hybrid format. Music Night and receptions will be streamed live and facilitate chat and connection spaces. Throughout the meeting, there will be hybrid networking spaces available.