Member of the ZeMKI Platform Governance, Media, and Technology Lab Dr. Dennis Redeker attends the 2023 United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Kyoto, Japan to conduct research and present research and teaching activities. In Japan, Dennis pursues background conversations, individual interviews and focus group interviews with stakeholders in the UN Global Digital Compact consultation and negotiation processes. This research is part of a work package on the “normative construction of technology governance” of REMIT, a new EU Horizon Europe project, for which ZeMKI researchers partner with eight other partner organizations around Europe.

In this specific research task, Dennis aims to get a better understanding of the advocacy coalitions entailed in the UN process for a Global Digital Compact. While at the IGF, Dennis also disseminates research results from (ongoing) projects at ZeMKI, such as the Platform Governance Survey. He further presents experiences from the recently held Erasmus+ Blended-Intensive Program organized by the Digital Constitutionalism Network and co-hosted by the University of Bremen.

The Internet Governance Forum is a global initiative by the United Nations to bring together all stakeholders in Internet governance and the governance of digital technologies – including AI, platforms and the blockchain – to exchange opinions, insights and ideas. While not mandated to make decisions, the IGF is an important place to find consensus and to influence policy outcomes on all levels and dimensions, from national privacy laws to global AI standards and platform content policy.