IGF Sri Lanka 2017 (2nd National IGF) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

The second IGF Sri Lanka ran 16–18 May 2017 at the BMICH in Colombo under the theme "Cybersecurity and Safer Internet", with Telecommunication Minister Harin Fernando as chief guest on the final day.
Its landmark was day one: the world's first Women's IGF, with sessions such as "Is the Internet a feminist issue?" putting gender on the formal agenda of a national IGF for the first time anywhere.
With a Youth IGF and a School on Internet Governance alongside, the forum grew from 2016's one-day debut into a three-day event — a growth model for small-country national IGFs.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on IGF Sri Lanka 2017 (2nd National IGF) 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	IGF Sri Lanka 2017 (2nd National IGF)
Dates	16–18 May 2017
Venue	BMICH (Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall), Colombo
Theme	Cybersecurity and Safer Internet
Host	Internet Society Sri Lanka Chapter (ISOC-LK)
Milestone	Hosted the world's first Women's IGF on day one (16 May)

(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. The World's First Women's IGF — Is Gender an Internet Governance Issue?

Sessions: Women's IGF (16 May, day one): "Does Gender Matter?", "Is the internet a feminist issue?" and more

"The Internet enables and enhances women's choices in a local context"
— Sanchia Brown (Women and Media Collective) [2][5]

The gender digital divide was framed as intersectional — access, affordability and language combined — and the concept of cyber-feminism was introduced [2][5]
Women leaders from government, industry and civil society spoke, including ICTA Chairperson Chithrangani Mubarak, Manique Gunarathne of the Employers' Federation and Paba Deshapriya of The Grassrooted Trust [2][5]
Sessions addressed carrying women's voices into public space and governance bodies — a track format the revived 2024 forum would inherit [2][5]

2. Cybersecurity and Safer Internet — the Main Theme

Sessions: Main session (18 May): "Cyber Security & Safer Internet Forum" and related slots

With Minister Harin Fernando as chief guest and ministry secretary Wasantha Deshapriya as guest of honour, the forum debated government digital policy and online safety head-on [1][4]
The agenda included a slot for APNIC's Paul Wilson, plus presentations by research outfit LIRNEasia and the LKNOG network operators' group — full-scale technical-community participation [1][4]
A UN IGF Secretariat slot on the agenda tied the national forum explicitly into the global IGF process [1][4]

3. SDGs and Digital Rights — Growing into a Three-day Forum

Sessions: Main session (18 May): "SDG and Internet" and "Digital Rights and Multistakeholderism in Sri Lanka"

The afternoon was built around two flagship sessions: the SDGs and the Internet, and digital rights and multistakeholderism in Sri Lanka [1][3]
The published panelist list ran to over 30 names across government (ICTA, the telecom regulator), academia, operators and civil society, with open Google-form calls for panelists, slogans and even themes [1][3]
dig.watch records the forum's policy areas as freedom of expression, human-rights principles, network security, and privacy and data protection [1][3]

4. Youth and Capacity Building — Youth IGF and the School on Internet Governance

Sessions: Parallel sessions (16–17 May): Youth IGF Sri Lanka, SIG Sri Lanka, Safer Internet workshop

The two days before the main forum hosted parallel sessions for youth, women and differently-abled participants plus a School on Internet Governance — deliberately building capacity across constituencies [1][4][5]
The SIG is recorded as an ISOC Foundation "Beyond the Net" project, international grant support underpinning a small country's national IGF [1][4][5]
This main-forum-plus-school-plus-constituency-tracks design became the template for the LKSIG-run 2024 revival with its five-track structure [1][4][5]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. So what did the meeting actually decide?

A. It's a dialogue forum, not a decision body — but staging the world's first Women's IGF was itself the outcome. Making gender a formal national-IGF track spread worldwide from here.

Q. What was the most contentious topic?

A. "Is the Internet a feminist issue?" Sessions confronted how women's voices had been dismissed over access and affordability, against the Internet's power to expand women's choices.

Q. Why should I care?

A. Online safety and the gender gap are universal, and this forum's design — dedicated tracks for women, youth and persons with disabilities — remains a template for inclusive conference-building.

What Is Sri Lanka IGF? (for first-time readers)

Sri Lanka 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 2017 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.