India Internet Governance Forum 2021, a three-day online event on internet governance has set sail bringing the stakeholders of internet governance to pitch a digitization roadmap and affirm the nation as an essential participant globally.

Themed as ‘Empowering India through Power of Internet’, the event is being organized between 25 to 27 this month throwing light on the role of digitalization on international policy development on internet governance.

The inaugural event held a range of talks, workshops and sessions around Cybernorms that covered concepts on ensuring an open, interoperable, and trusted internet. The topics were, 'Roadmap for a trillion-dollar digital economy,' 'Multilingual Internet- Connecting All Indians,' 'Start-ups and fostering innovations,' and 'Socio-economic impacts of digital economy’.

In addition, the online event is set to play three plenary sessions based on topics such as, 'India and Internet- India's Digital Journey & Global Role,' chaired by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State (MeitY), 'Connecting All Indians,' chaired by Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary (MeitY), and 'Securing Internet for a Safe Future,' chaired by Dr. Sanjay Bahl,

Inaugurated by Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics & Information Technology, the minister spoke on “the internet is the most important part of the economy and society and it is crucial to define its norms of governance”.

Vaishnaw spoke on the account of gluing the digital divide particularly those dwelling in the remote part of the nation, while stating how vital it is to establish the ownership of the content shared online. Vaishnaw’s reason for this is that young minds are easily tempted to believe in what is shared online especially on social media and there is a need to decide responsibilities. Therefore, he believes it is also crucial to see the social impact of online disruption.

Vasihnaw also spoke on e-commerce which has disrupted MSMEs (Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises) with a social impact and believes in working together to bring the smaller individuals to the mainstream.

On Cybersecurity, Vaishnaw specifies that it requires maximum attention, especially with cases involving an entire system being taken for ransom or being held hostage. To this Vaishnaw questions, “can we develop a robust system for cybersecurity? I hope this forum will bring solid answers to these questions”.

Then came the words of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State (MeitY) who says that, “one of the largest connected countries is hosting the first IIGF and this has been long due”.

Chandrasekhar pointed out at the government’s commitment in making the internet open, safe and trusted, including it being accountable to all.

Chandrasekhar spoke on how it was be made free from the influences of the government as well as the big business which he feels is an article of faith for the Narendra Modi Government. Billions of Indians including women, children, elderly and others will be connected online and availing government services, subsidies, etc.

The future of IIGF is to shepherd and work with government bodies to ensure that future jurisprudence on the internet is developed by bringing users on board as the most important stakeholders. The future of the global internet should be led by India’s internet ecosystem and innovation capabilities, is what Chandrasekhar believes.

Likewise, the digital drive in India is keenly focused on bringing the population on the internet network and the event is focusing on the digitization roadmap, opportunities, possibilities, and challenges in India.
IIGF is aiming to combine every stakeholder from the global internet governance ecosystem such as the government, industry, civil society, academia through an open and inclusive process. As these entities are viewed as equal participants of the larger internet governance discourse.

“The Internet has become an intrinsic part of our lives and we use it to learn, communicate, and find opportunities. Handling such a complex ecosystem requires governance and IIGF has taken the lead. All stakeholders should join together to anticipate what is going to happen in the coming years and find solutions together. India has strongly supported multi-stakeholders, and it is also very important that we value the internet as an open, accountable, and safe space”, says Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, MeitY.

Listening to Anil Kumar Jain, CEO NIXI who says,”all Indians have been waiting for the India chapter of the IGF for a long time which was constituted by the United Nations in the year 2006. With 1.3 billion Indians online, the country can become the leader of the global internet. India has been a champion of multi-stakeholderism on the internet. We are thankful to all the luminaries present at the IIGF for sharing their ideas. We will bring out a white paper so that it guides the IIGF and the global internet governance.

The India Internet Governance Forum is a project of the UN Internet Governance Forum (UN-IGF), whereas the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multi stakeholder platform that brings together members from various organizations to address Internet-related public policy concerns.

The event was flagged off in tandem by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI).

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State (MeitY), Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary (MeitY), Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan, Shri Anil Kumar Jain, CEO, National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), Chair IIGF, TV Ramachandran, President, Broadband India Forum, and others were among the dignitaries who attended the inaugural event.

At the conclusion of the inauguration ceremony, TV Ramachandran, President, Broadband India Forum & Vice-Chair, IIGF 2021, delivered the vote of gratitude.

In October 2021, the IIGF hosted a pre-event that provided a fascinating glimpse into India's digital transformation roadmap. The gathering served as a forerunner to the formation of the India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF), which was established in accordance with IGF – paragraph 72 of the UN-based Internet Governance Forum's Tunis Agenda: (IGF).