Looking forward to Inclusive, Sustainable and Trusted Internet

 👉Together is "The Key" 

                                                ...............of any success story

It all began with the above notice, once again I was lucky to be a fellow at APrIGF 2021!

This time a virtual fellow, as everything went virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

By the time I heard the AprIGF, I had a bag full of issues related to inclusive, accessible, affordable Internet and its impact digital/online education during the pandemic. I understood how important it is to take even small initiatives to help solve the connectivity issues we are experiencing more than anytime before. Yes, I got the correct platform to raise the voice, to be heard and to hear what the rest of the world is doing. 

I am excited to share lots of stories, and luckily, the fellows were given more room to talk and share experience. We felt more responsible and definitely, more engaged. Thank you for all the big voices and roles in the IG family, we were welcomed warmly and tenderly. 

Thanks to my mentors and buddies, we had long discussions to share our ideas and experience, and we were able to end up with fruitful sessions with whole cohort.  I really appreciate the company of my buddies Swaran, Mini and special thanks to our mentor Dr.Shibendu.

From the very first day we met as fellows until the last day our learnings are enormous. Let me share a few.

From the very first day I heard about Internet Governance back in 2017,  Multistakeholderism is a fascinating idea for me, and without any doubt the most challneging when it comes to concensus, but IG community were able to sustain it. First let me thank whoever initiated the idea of Multistakeholder approach in IG , we learnt how it evolved and we experienced it very well all the time.

"Internet is for all ", if so the issues should be seen in everyone’s perspective. That’s why all of us are here from academia, civil society, technical community, government and intergovernmental organizations , private sector  every one , meet together , in other times sit together and discuss common topic. All of us have a common goal , that is making the Internet a better place for everyone. As fellows we understood our voices are heard and we have a humble pride that we also have contributed to shape the Internet in our capacity. The welcoming nature of every big pillars in the IG community, I must say, encouraging the young blood.

When we started Day 1, we had our own definitions on Inclusive, Sustainable and Trusted Internet. But I believe, those 3 days broaden our vision on each aspect. To be precise we understood connectivity does not mean only the physical connectivity, or inclusive and accessible Internet does not mean accessibility to differently abled community, there exist a broader matrix we should think about including what services available for us , do we have useful content, how about fit for purpose Internet. I like the ideas shared by the big boss Dr.Vint Cerf on the very first day. 

Similar to all the other IG forums we were talking about issues like rural connectivity which is a main issues in APAC region, lack of connectivity and access to devices, gender gap in technology and issues in patriarchy societies and the issues women facing in Internet Access. marginalized communities, cost, policies, communication. Need the awareness of digital rights at the grassroots level. And also issues like similar to my own experience, in a lot of Asian countries, there are policies but common people are not aware of the laws. 

But I felt this time we all came with bag full of issues due to unexpected online transformation due to Covid-19 pandemic. We had very fruitful conversations about how different countries tackle these issues, what are the initiatives available. I think the good think happened was, we got many insights about the ways we can contribute in our capacity to solve these issues related to connectivity, accessibility, affordability , digital education and many more.

We saw this can not be solved by a single party or Governments,  all the stakeholders even in country level should get together to overcome brand new issues we are facing today due to the pandemic. That’s what the success stories shared. And also how little steps we can take to handle big issues like capacity building in small community levels. All these things, as a fellow I took back home.

Personally I like the discussions on Green Internet ,  Internet of Communities and digital Education. Which I heard new perspectives. The list goes on.....

The best learning we got here is time management,work on time and also let everyone’s voices heard . It was a great opportunity to for me as well as for other fellows to share our voice in a global forum. That experience was awesome and never be forgotten. 

I was able to contribute to a panel discussion in "Accessibility and aspects for Digital Education" and also share experience as fellows on the final day. 

Although the throughts flow like a river, I know , I should not bore you, my dear readers. So, let's conclude by saying , apart from all the above we were able to take back loads of new friendships around Asia Pacific. We all are members of the IG family. So we can get in touch, contribute and help eachother whenever we are in need. 

As a final remark I would say, a big THANK YOU for letting the young blood shine in this global forum and giving us this world class experience.  

Come join with us .... Together , we can make INTERNET a better place. 

Thank You !

Cheers to all fellows of 2021 ! 

Although we miss the beautiful Nepal , appreciate all the hard work behind the scenes to make APrIGF 2021 happen.