The 3-Line Summary
- On 9 June 2015 the first Taiwan Internet Governance Forum (TWIGF 2015) met at the GIS MOTC Convention Center in Taipei, hosted by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and organised by the NII Enterprise Promotion Association.
- The day covered three themes — big data and privacy, net neutrality, and the domain name market — with the regulator NCC, Chunghwa Telecom, consumer groups and human-rights advocates sharing the same stage from the very first edition.
- Taiwan's internet governance dialogue has run annually ever since, leading to APrIGF 2016 in Taipei and full community-run operation from 2017 — the starting point of one of East Asia's liveliest national IGFs.
Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Taiwan Internet Governance Forum 2015 (TWIGF 2015) draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.
Conference at a Glance (from official records)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | Taiwan Internet Governance Forum 2015 (TWIGF 2015) |
| Edition | 1st edition (inaugural Taiwan IGF) |
| Dates | 9 June 2015 |
| Venue | GIS MOTC Convention Center, International Conference Hall, Taipei |
| Theme | Regional governance themes |
| Host | Hosted by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC); organised by the NII Enterprise Promotion Association (NIIEPA) |
(See the source list at the end of this article.)
Discussion Digest — from the Session Records
Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.
1. Why the First Edition Mattered — The Start of Taiwan's Multistakeholder Dialogue
Sessions: Overall forum
- TWIGF's official history dates the series from this meeting: the forum has been held annually since 2015 [3][4]
- According to the GISWatch report, TWIGF was established in 2015 by the NII Enterprise Promotion Association (NIIEPA) with government support [3][4]
- Though government-hosted at first, it adopted the UN IGF-style format from day one, with civil society, business and academia on an equal footing [3][4]
2. Big Data — Industrial Promise versus Privacy
Sessions: Big data session (11:00–12:20)
- Moderated by Kenny Huang (APNIC Executive Council), the panel put the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, mobile carrier Taiwan Mobile, a law firm and researchers on one stage to weigh data use against privacy [1]
- Seating a human-rights group and a telco on the same panel set the pattern for Taiwan's later data-protection debates [1]
3. Net Neutrality — Regulator, Carrier and Consumers on One Stage
Sessions: Net neutrality session (14:00–15:20)
- Moderated by Nicole Chan (then director of the Science & Technology Law Institute), with NIIEPA's Kuo-Wei Wu, the regulator NCC, Chunghwa Telecom and consumer representatives on the panel [1]
- Coming just months after the US FCC adopted its Open Internet Order, the session put the question of neutrality rules for Taiwan squarely on the table [1]
4. The Domain Name Market — Taiwan in the New gTLD Era
Sessions: Domain names session (16:10–17:30)
- Moderated by Kuo-Wei Wu (NIIEPA executive director and former ICANN board member), with TWNIC, registrars and the Taipei City Department of Information Technology on the panel [1]
- As ICANN's new gTLD programme expanded the namespace, panellists debated how Taiwan's market should grow — Taipei City had just obtained its own city TLD, .taipei, the year before [1]
Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered
Q. What exactly is the Taiwan IGF?
A. It is Taiwan's national version of the UN Internet Governance Forum — an annual meeting where government, business, academia, the technical community and civil society discuss internet public policy as equals. This 2015 meeting was the very first.
Q. What was discussed at the first edition?
A. Three themes: big data and privacy, net neutrality, and the domain name market — the hottest global internet-policy topics of the day, debated with the regulator, telcos and rights groups on one stage.
Q. Why does it matter outside Taiwan?
A. National IGFs were springing up across Asia around then — Japan's IGCJ started in 2014 — and TWIGF became one of the region's most consistent, meeting every year since.
What Is Taiwan IGF? (for first-time readers)
Taiwan IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.
Why It Matters to You
What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2015 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.
Sources & References
- 2015 臺灣網路治理論壇（大会公式サイト・議程／講者） — NII產業發展協進會（NIIEPA） (accessed 2026-07-11)
- 歷屆年會（TWIGF公式アーカイブ一覧） — 臺灣網路治理論壇（TWIGF） (accessed 2026-07-11)
- 關於TWIGF（組織沿革） — 臺灣網路治理論壇（TWIGF） (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Taiwan IGF (country report, GISWatch 2017 Special Issue) — APC (accessed 2026-07-11)
Quotes are translated or condensed from the records listed above. Bracketed numbers [n] refer to the source list.
Related links
- IGF official (NRI list): https://www.intgovforum.org/en/content/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives
- Japan IGF: https://japanigf.jp/
- Yuki Nakazawa's blog: https://nkzw.jp/category/igf/
Revision History
Rev. 1 — published 19 July 2015, 15:00 (Article published)
Rev. 2 — updated 16 July 2026, 20:09 (Fully revised into the in-depth edition: added the 3-line summary, minutes digest, short talk, source list and diagrams (all quotes verified against the listed sources))
— 中澤祐樹
