Internet Governance Dialogue of Costa Rica 2017 (Diálogo de Gobernanza de Internet, DGI CR) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

Costa Rica's first national IGF, the Internet Governance Dialogue (DGI CR), met on 31 August 2017 at Universidad Latina's San Pedro campus in San José, drawing about 70 participants.
A tri-sector committee — NIC Costa Rica, the science and telecom ministry MICITT and the ISOC Costa Rica chapter — built the agenda bottom-up through a public consultation and three preparatory webinars, in a half-day format.
It launched on a budget of just USD 3,200, yet the same tri-sector model has carried the Dialogue almost every year since — a Central American case study in starting small and lasting.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Internet Governance Dialogue of Costa Rica 2017 (Diálogo de Gobernanza de Internet, DGI CR) 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	Internet Governance Dialogue of Costa Rica 2017 (Diálogo de Gobernanza de Internet, DGI CR)
Edition	First edition — the official site states the Dialogue was 'realizado por primera vez en 2017', and the 2018 technical report calls 2018 the 'second consecutive year'
Dates	31 August 2017, 8:00–13:00
Venue	Universidad Latina, San Pedro campus, San José, Costa Rica
Theme	Regional governance themes
Participants	70 (Per the official edicion-2017 page: 70 attendees from technical, government, student, academic, private-sector and civil-society backgrounds)
Host	Tri-sector organising committee: NIC Costa Rica (technical community), MICITT (government) and the ISOC Costa Rica chapter (civil society)

(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 the First Edition Came Together — A Tri-Sector Committee and Public Consultation

Sessions: Preparatory process and main meeting (8:00–13:00, moderated panels)

Government (MICITT), civil society (ISOC) and the technical community (NIC Costa Rica) jointly launched the Dialogue in 2017; committee members included Angélica Chinchilla (MICITT), Luis Carlos Solano and Nancy Quirós (ISOC), and Susana Chaves of NIC CR [1][2]
A public consultation ran from 26 June to 21 July to set the agenda, drawing responses from civil-society, government, technical and academic sectors [1][2]
The main meeting used moderated panel discussions, with about 70 participants from technical, government, student, academic, private-sector and civil-society backgrounds [1][2]

2. A Minimum-Viable National IGF — What a USD 3,200 Budget Means

Sessions: Operations (from the official record)

The USD 3,200 budget covered venue setup, materials, catering and promotion, funded by the ISOC Costa Rica chapter and LACNIC — regional Internet institutions underwriting a national dialogue [1][2]
Three preparatory webinars gave first-time participants grounding in Internet governance; the 'pre-learning plus main meeting' pattern carried into later editions [1][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What kind of meeting was this?

A. Costa Rica's first national IGF: a half-day on a university campus where about 70 people from government, business, civil society and the technical community talked as equals, with the agenda set by a public consultation.

Q. Who ran it?

A. A three-party committee — NIC Costa Rica (the .cr registry), the ministry MICITT and the ISOC Costa Rica chapter. The tri-sector balance was baked in from day one.

Q. Why should I care?

A. It shows a national IGF can start with USD 3,200 and half a day — a start-small, repeat-annually model relevant to any community wanting its own Internet-governance dialogue.

What Is Costa Rica IGF? (for first-time readers)

Costa Rica 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.