IGF-USA 2026 Meeting Report 1

Approved 25 June, 2026

This is the first update on the resurgence of the IGF-USA. A multistakeholder group has been brought together to renew the IGF-USA. This report covers the first two meetings: 29 May and 11 June.

In addition to a mailing list, the core team has set up a WhatsApp discussion group for discussion and, if necessary, decision-making among the core team / Steering Committee.

Meetings

First meeting (29 May)

The first meeting included a discussion of an informal document intended to start the conversation. This meeting made several tentative decisions, including:

• Reviving the IGF-USA and setting plans for its continued sustainability
• Tentative planning for a ⅔ to ½ day hybrid event in Philadelphia in September 2026
• Decision to meet on alternate Thursdays at 19UTC starting 11 June

Second meeting (11 June)

• Reviewed the discussions from 29 May
• Accepted the core team as the Steering Committee with Ron da Silva as Chair
• Decided that work on assembling a Programme Committee needed to start. Avri Doria was appointed as Chair
• Determined that at least for this year, ISOC-DC would remain as the Secretariat for the IGF-USA
• Determined that Avri Doria, Ron da Silva, and Judith Hellerstein would serve as the liaison to the IGF Secretariat, with Avri as the formal point of contact required by the IGF process
• There was some discussion on connecting to the Youth IGF. Need to discuss further
• There was a discussion of the estimated budget and the requirement for a detailed budget that the Steering Committee could discuss at the next meeting
• There was a brief discussion on possible venues, and a question as to whether any venues were available as an in-kind donation? Need to obtain estimates for the venues being considered for rent

Current Status

After checking with the IGF Secretariat, it was determined that IGF-USA was still listed among the IGF NRI, but that it needed to reconfirm its status. To do so, the following was requested:

• The members of the multistakeholder steering committee — provided below
• Plans for this year's annual meeting and related activities — a hybrid session is tentatively planned for 9 Sept in Philadelphia
• The designated focal point(s) for the initiative, who would be a liaison (coordinator) for the communication with the IGF Secretariat and participate in the monthly NRIs calls. While Avri Doria will be the point of contact, the liaison team will include: Avri Doria, Ron da Silva, and Judith Hellerstein

A multistakeholder core team has been organized as the Steering group:

Name	Organization	Stakeholder affiliation
Ron da Silva	Network Technologies Global	Business & Technical
Judith Hellerstein	ISOC-DC	Civil Society
Burt Lum	ISOC-HI / US Gov	Government
Fiona Alexander	American U	Academic
Keith Drazek	Verisign	Business
Chelsea Horne	Lehigh U	Academic
Helen Harris	Amazon	Business
Avri Doria	Technicalities	Civil Society & Technical
Ram Mohan	Identity Digital	Business & Technical

• It was determined that Ron da Silva would chair the Steering Committee and that Avri Doria would chair the Programme Committee
• Work on forming the Programme Committee had been initiated. Completing that is an Action Item
• It was determined that ISOC-DC should remain, at least for this year, as the Secretariat, as they had access to accounts and such. Judith Hellerstein stepped up to help coordinate that function

Current Plan

The current tentative plan, discussed briefly in the Steering Committee but yet to be planned by the Programme Committee (PC), includes:

• A 2/3 or 1/2 day event in Philadelphia on 9 September 2026
• The event will be available both online and onsite (hybrid)
• The initial plan is to have 2–3 sessions:
  • Review of the IGF environment and scope in 2026
  • Discussion of what the US community wants to do with IGF-USA moving forward
  • Discussion and recommendation of one substantive issue based on IGF 2026 priorities; e.g., within the umbrella topics and report on intersessional work topics. Details to be worked out by PC
• Venue is still under discussion

Action Items

(with the name of at least one of those working on it)

• Ron da Silva, representing the IGF-USA, will make a short presentation next week, June 24, at the NRI portion of the IGF MAG meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, as he will be in Kenya attending the AFRINIC Meeting
• Recover the secretariat function, including accounts, with ISOC-DC (Ron, Judith)
• Update the website (Avri)
• Determine technical requirements for hybrid session (Avri, Judith)
• Form programme committee (Avri, Ron)
• Continue exploring venues for the event (Ron, Avri)
• Create a budget for the event (Ron)
• Continue looking for sponsors (Ron, core team)
• Identify Youth Track connections in the US and contact them with an invitation to get involved in the Programme committee
• Solicit suggestions from SC for people to approach for the PC. Judith Hellerstein sent names to Ron da Silva of people interested in joining the Programming Committee. Other SC members are invited to do likewise

Items for next agenda

• Initiate a discussion about criteria for adding people to the programming committee, including clarity on who and what interests they represent as well as ensuring the groups have balanced stakeholder representation
• Consider whether a programming committee is needed at this point for the renewal meeting. Can the Steering Committee handle this task since it is limited in this case
• Should the members of the Steering Committee and Programming Committee fill out SOI forms?
• We have the old open mailing list. Do not know how stale it might be. How should we resurrect it? Send mail on the resurrection and cull all the bounces?

(Continue to IGF-USA 2026 Meeting Report 2)