Draft Program

Draft Program for IGF-USA 9 September 2026

Livestream https://isoc.live/21744/

Next update 21 August (subject to adjustment)

10:30 - 12:00 Opening remarks and Session 1 - Where is IG now

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 - What is next for IGF-USA

3:45 - 4:00 Closing remarks & wrap-up

4:00 - 5:00 Networking cocktail

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Session Descriptions

Welcome and Opening Remarks

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

IGF Secretariat Input - TBC

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

Session 2 - Data Centers and AI

A substantive session that fits both with the theme set by the IGF MAG, “Governing the Internet in the Age of Intelligence: Our Shared Responsibility”, and that is relevant to a US context. Program Committee decided on Data Centers and AI

Subtopics being examined include:

• A framework for new markets - Illyssa Miller (TBC)
• Loudoun County power challenges (distribution and rates) - Suhas Subramanyam (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
• Water challenges and sustainability implications
• Local / regional impact
• Broader national grass-roots push on local concerns
• Recent legislation on data centers introduced in Congress and State Legislatures
• Data centers are not just for AI

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