Draft Program

Draft Program for IGF-USA 9 September 2026

Livestream https://isoc.live/21744/

Next update 21 August (subject to adjustment)

10:30 - 10:35 Welcome and Opening Remarks

10:35 - 12:30 Session 1 - Internet Governance Landscape - from the Global to Local

12:00 - 12:30 Box lunches & networking break

12:30 - 2:00 Session 2 - Data Centers and AI

2:00 - 2:15 Bio break

2:15 - 3:45 Session 3 - IGF-USA - Where to Go from Here?

3:45 - 4:00 Closing Remarks & Wrap-up

4:00 - 5:00 Networking Cocktail

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Session Descriptions

Session 1 - Internet Governance Landscape - from the Global to Local

For the first time, Internet governance stakeholders head into the global Internet Governance Forum (IGF) with a clear understanding of the future of the forum. What started as a temporary 5 year process in 2006 has now been made permanent. With that in mind, this 21st edition of the global IGF, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya December 14-18, provides a unique opportunity to move forward on innovative discussions addressing today’s most pressing digital challenges. What does the evolution of the IGF over 20 years and its now permanence mean for IGF-USA?

This session with be a traditional moderated panel discussion followed by ample opportunity for questions and input from in-person and remote stakeholders.

Moderator - TBC

What's Happening at the UN, IGF, WSIS, et al - Theresa Swinehart (ICANN)

USG Perspective - TBC

Global IGF Input - Anja Gengo (United Nations IGF Secretariat)

Bottom-up vs. Top-down for NRI's - TBC

Session 2 - AI & Data Centers in the USA

Data centers are an increasingly necessary part of our Internet and AI infrastructure, but how and where to build them is sparking debates all across local communities in the United States. The economic and investment benefits of data centers are being weighed against the local resource demands (e.g., power, water) that can accompany deployment. As practical realities hit local communities, site selection choices including placement on indigenous sovereign nations, seem to be dominating the news.

Against the backdrop of the global IGF 2026 theme “Governing the Internet in the Age of Intelligence: Our Shared Responsibility”, this roundtable will examine the wide range of issues around one of the most public contemporary technology debates happening in the United States - data center deployment.

Subtopics being examined include:

• A framework for new markets - Illyssa Miller (TBC)
• Loudoun County power challenges (distribution and rates) - (TBC)
• Government actors and cybersecurity - White House (TBD)
• Site Selection - Challenges and opportunities - Data Center Dynamics or DC Collation or 7x24 or iMasons
• DC deployments in indigenous Sovereign Nations - Tana Fitzpatrick (University of Oklahoma)
• Water challenges and sustainability implications - (TBC)
• Local / regional impact - (TBC)
• Broader national grass-roots push on local concerns - (TBC)
• Recent legislation on data centers introduced in Congress and State Legislatures - (TBC)
• Data centers are not just for AI - (TBC)

Session 3 - IGF-USA - Where to Go from Here?

As the IGF-USA community moves forward in an era of permanent global IGF, what lessons have we learned from our national session which began in 2009 as well as other national and regional initiatives over the years? How do we innovate at a local level and build a sustainable structure, one that expands the understanding and use of multistakeholder approaches domestically, and one that moves beyond Washington, DC?

The session will begin with brief opening remarks from 4 thematic “kickstarter” speakers to introduce key questions and themes, but will primarily be a moderated strategy discussion amongst all participants - both in person and remote - to collectively map out a shared vision of the IGF-USA we want going forward.

Moderator - Fiona Alexander (American University)

Previous Operating Structure Process - Christian Dawson (i2Coalition)

Proposed New Operating Structure - Ron da Silva (Network Technologies Global)

Academics & Youth Impact - Chelsea Horne (Lehigh University)

Geographic Rotation and Impact - TBC