The IGF welcomes all stakeholders in the Internet ecosystem, including all entities accredited by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), as well as other institutions and individuals with relevant expertise, experience and interest. Taking place for the tenth time, the main theme of IGF 2015 was — Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development.

The 100 or more sessions organized by interested stakeholders, were expected to facilitate comprehensive debates among participants from different parts of the world. You can find the full schedule here.

Anja Kovacs from the Internet Democracy Project spoke at the following sessions: 

• WS 156 Zero-rating and neutrality policies in developing countries — Wednesday 11 November, 0900 – 1030

This roundtable aimed to go in depth in one of the emerging topics regarding internet governance: can net neutrality have exceptions when we discuss about access of internet in countries from Global South? This roundtable attempted to advance the nuances of the net neutrality concept from the perspective of participants from the Global South, where access to the internet is still a huge problem and some zero-rated services are being applied.

• WS 145 Cuts Right Across: Consent in the Digital Age — Wednesday 11 November, 1100 – 1230 

This roundtable aimed to surface the buried concept of consent and explore its value and significance to strengthen, not only the right to privacy, but human rights online, and what this means for Internet governance in substance and in process. It was also co-organised by Anja Kovacs from the Internet Democracy Project and Bishakha Datta from Point of View.

• A Dialogue on ​“Zero Rating” and Network Neutrality — Thursday 12 November, 1400 – 1600 

The objective of this main session was to provide the global Internet community, and policymakers in particular, with an informed and balanced dialogue on the complex Internet policy issue of ​“zero-rating. The purpose was essentially to help others, in their respective countries and locales, in their own analyses of Zero-Rating (ZR). This session promoted access to expert insight and multistakeholder community discussion on the issue.

• WS 271 Enhancing Gender Participation within IGF — Thursday 12 November, 1600 – 1730 

This roundtable focused on the one hand, global IGFs, and on the other hand, national/​regional IGFs regarding the participation of women in all aspects of the IGF and N/R Initiatives, such as planning, organizing, facilitating, delivering and decision-making. The roundtable began with discussing the past role of women in Internet governance over the years and then discussed the current status of women in Internet governance and future opportunities to enhance gender participation within IGFs.

• The NETmundial Statement and the Evolution of the Internet Governance Ecosystem — Friday 13 November, 1400 – 1600 

This main session aimed to take stock of the evolution of the Internet Governance ecosystem with regard to the principles contained in the NETmundial Multistakeholder Statement and its roadmap. It also aimed to assess the current and future impact of the NETmundial Statement on Internet Governance processes.