Youth LACIGF 2016 (1st Youth LACIGF) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 26 July 2016 in San José, Costa Rica, young people from across Latin America and the Caribbean held the first Youth LACIGF — a one-day pre-event to LACIGF 9, drawing more than 77 participants from 15 countries.
Four tracks framed the debate: infrastructure and access, the internet and human rights, cybersecurity and surveillance, and 'youth and governance: what future do we want?'. Twelve fellows attended on scholarships chosen from 57 applications.
Its defining feature: the forum was built bottom-up by young people who had attended IGF 2015 and found their generation missing from the room. Every Youth LACIGF since traces back to this meeting.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Youth LACIGF 2016 (1st Youth LACIGF) 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	Youth LACIGF 2016 (1st Youth LACIGF)
Edition	1st edition (founding meeting)
Dates	26 July 2016
Venue	San José, Costa Rica
Theme	Regional governance themes
Participants	Over 77 young people from 15 countries; 5 presentations. 12 fellowships were awarded from 57 applications
Host	The Youth Observatory (SIG Youth, the Internet Society's first youth Special Interest Group), with support from the Internet Society and ICANN

(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. How It Began — A Youth Forum Born at the João Pessoa IGF

Sessions: The 1st Youth LACIGF as a whole (26 July)

The immediate trigger was IGF 2015 in João Pessoa, which 73 young Latin Americans attended with NIC.br and ISOC support — and where the closing panel repeatedly heard the call for 'more young people' [1][4]
The organiser, the Youth Observatory, was the Internet Society's first youth Special Interest Group, and within a year of its founding had representatives in 15 countries across the region [1][4]
The stated aim was not to tear down what internet governance had built, but to use youth participation to bring down certain walls and raise new pillars [1][4]

2. Four Tracks — From Access and Surveillance to 'What Future Do We Want?'

Sessions: Thematic discussions (26 July)

The four tracks — infrastructure and access, internet and human rights, cybersecurity and surveillance, and 'youth and governance: what future do we want?' — were designed to feed into LACIGF 9 the next day [1][3]
With over 77 participants from 15 countries and 5 presentations, the turnout was substantial for a first edition [1][3]
Recognising travel costs as the biggest barrier to youth participation, the organisers funded 12 fellows selected from 57 applications (24 women and 33 men applied) [1][3]

3. 'New Faces, Young Voices, More Women' — The Ripple into the LACIGF Itself

Sessions: Feeding into LACIGF 9 (27–29 July)

"What I will remember from this year's LACIGF is exactly that: new faces, young voices, more women (translated from Spanish)"
— Alex Dans (ICANN Communications Director, the Americas) [2][4]

ICANN's official blog noted that LACIGF 9 'was preceded by the YOUTH LACIGF' and read the influx of young and new faces as proof of the process's maturity since its 2008 start [2][4]
Backed by both the Internet Society and ICANN, the youth forum was woven into the region's multistakeholder fabric from day one [2][4]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What was this gathering, exactly?

A. A forum where young Latin Americans and Caribbeans debated internet governance on their own terms — held the day before the regional LACIGF meeting so its conclusions could flow into the main event.

Q. Why did it start in 2016?

A. Young attendees of IGF 2015 in Brazil came home convinced their generation was missing from the room. The closing panel's repeated call for 'more young people' turned into this forum in under a year.

Q. Why should I care?

A. The design pioneered here — a youth day before the main meeting, with fellowships to lower the cost barrier — became the template for youth IGFs worldwide.

What Is Youth LACIGF? (for first-time readers)

Youth LACIGF 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 2016 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.