High Level Session 2: Digital Public Goods and Global Digital Cooperation, IGF 2025.

 The 20th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum is hosted by the Government of the Norway in Lillestrøm from 23 to 27 June 2025. The Forum's overarching theme is: Building Digital Governance Together.


In September 2024, UN Member States adopted the Global Digital Compact (GDC) to "harness the immense potential of digital technology and close digital divides". The GDC highlights digital public goods and digital public infrastructure as key drivers of inclusive digital transformation and innovation. The GDC furthermore includes a commitment to increase investment and funding towards the development of digital public goods and digital public infrastructure, especially in developing countries.

Since the adoption of the Global Digital Compact (GDC), geopolitical changes have led to large cuts to international development assistance as well as to government funded research and data efforts in areas such as climate change and global health. Even though there are ongoing efforts to identify additional financing to meet some of these needs, it appears clear that more will have to be done with less resources to avoid large-scale disruption to addressing urgent development needs and global challenges such as climate change mitigation and adaptation.

As we enter a period of growing resource constraints, Digital public goods (DPGs) can play a critical role in maintaining - and even strengthening - international digital cooperation momentum. To succeed, we must understand regional and national variations in conditions, needs, and preferences, and ensure that digital cooperation efforts also advance country sovereignty, agency, and capacity. This session will discuss how to achieve these multiple aims, and share compelling examples and best practices alongside future aspirations.

Panellists:Ms. Karianne Tung, Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance, Norway
Mr. Veronica M. Nduva, Secretary-General of the East African Community
Ms. Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited
Mr. Francisco Gaetani, Secretary of State, Government of Brazil
Ms. Henna Virkkunen, Commissioner for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
Mr. Takuo Imagawa, Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan

Moderators:Mr. Thomas Davin, Director of Innovation, UNICEF
Ms. Liv Marte Nordhaug, CEO, Digital Public Goods Alliance.

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