IGF Argentina 2017 — Second Foro de Gobernanza de Internet Argentina — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 16–17 November 2017 the second IGF Argentina drew over 200 people to UBA's Economics faculty, with a programme built from an open call for proposals.
Three axes dominated: tensions between technology and human rights, an internet economy that fosters innovation, and access and inclusion — plus 'frontier' slots on IoT, algorithmic governance and blockchain.
A standalone gender panel moderated by an APC activist and a Youth IGF session made this the edition where the series' standing agenda took shape — a model of a national IGF consolidating in year two.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on IGF Argentina 2017 — Second Foro de Gobernanza de Internet Argentina 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 Argentina 2017 — Second Foro de Gobernanza de Internet Argentina
Dates	16–17 November 2017
Venue	Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires
Theme	Regional governance themes
Participants	200 (The official post-event release reports 'more than 200 people'; 13 scholarships were granted to participants from seven provinces)
Host	The Comité Multisectorial, with a secretariat at Universidad de San Andrés; sponsored by Google, Cablevisión-Fibertel, Facebook, ISOC, IGFSA, CABASE, LACNIC and ICANN, supported by CETyS, NIC Argentina and UBA
Outcome	A two-day, two-track programme built from public consultation, with the first Youth IGF Argentina session attached

(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. Technology–Human Rights Tensions — with the New Data Authority on Stage

Sessions: Panel 'Human rights online: promotion and challenges' (16 Nov, 2 pm; moderator Javier Pallero, Access Now)

Eduardo Bertoni, head of the new Access to Public Information Agency (AAIP), shared the stage with Google's Eleonora Rabinovich, R3D's Vladimir Chorny and Vía Libre's Beatriz Busaniche [2][3]
Modernising data protection law and free expression on platforms were the core points of friction between sectors [2][3]
Organisers listed 'tensions between technology and human rights' among the forum's headline threads [2][3]

2. The Digital Economy and IoT — Growth Conditions Seen from Airbnb and the IDB

Sessions: 'Developing Argentina's digital economy' (16 Nov, 11 am) and 'IoT's impact on economy and society' (5 pm; moderator Paula Córdoba, Intel)

Airbnb's Martín Wasserman, Production ministry entrepreneurship secretary Mariano Mayer and the IDB's Ady Beitler debated platform economics and the regulatory environment [2][3]
The IoT panel brought together ISOC's Sebastián Bellagamba, CABASE and the Modernisation ministry on industrial policy and standards for a connected society [2][3]
'Regulation that does not choke innovation' ran through the economy track [2][3]

3. Gender and the Internet — a Standalone Panel Moderated by APC

Sessions: Panel 'Gender perspectives on the internet' (16 Nov, 2 pm; moderator Dafne Plou, APC)

Speakers included Tamar Colodenco (Women in the Digital Ecosystem), the legal coordinator of sex-worker union AMMAR, and Marina Benítez Demtschenko of Fundación Activismo Feminista Digital [2]
Combining online gender violence with women's participation in tech in one panel was ahead of most national IGFs at the time [2]
By 2018 the topic had become a standing session of the series [2]

4. A Consolidated Space for Dialogue — 200+ Participants and the Secretariat's Verdict

Sessions: Closing panel 'Balance and perspectives' (17 Nov, 12:30) and post-event release

"With every sector present and participants actively engaged, the second IGF Argentina consolidated a space for open dialogue, on an equal footing, on the key internet issues facing the country (translated from Spanish)"
— Agustina Callegari (Coordinator of the IGF Argentina Secretariat, Universidad de San Andrés) [3][2]

A 'frontier debates' slot on algorithmic governance and blockchain foreshadowed the AI agenda of later years [3][2]
An ecosystem-primer for newcomers and a Youth IGF Argentina session institutionalised onboarding [3][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did the two days look like?

A. A university faculty, two parallel rooms, and an agenda running from human rights and the digital economy to gender, IoT and algorithms — with 200+ participants, some on scholarships from seven provinces.

Q. The highlight?

A. The human-rights panel: the head of the brand-new data authority alongside Google, a Mexican digital-rights group and civil society, debating data-protection modernisation.

Q. Why should I care?

A. Platform regulation and online gender violence hit most national agendas a few years later; this shows a national IGF turning them into standing dialogue in year two.

What Is Argentina IGF? (for first-time readers)

Argentina 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.