IGF Ecuador 2018 (Cuenca) — ‘Internet de Confianza’ — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

IGF Ecuador 2018 convened on 10 November at the Universidad del Azuay in Cuenca — the rotation's third city after Manta and Loja — under the theme 'Internet de Confianza', a trusted internet.
After education minister Fander Falconí's opening keynote, four parallel mesas (academia; government and civil society; economy and development; cybersecurity) debated university curricula, the municipal telecom's privacy practices, e-commerce security and the absence of a national cybersecurity strategy.
The day closed with the reading of a 'Pronunciamiento de Cuenca' and remarks by the provincial prefect — a notably theme-focused model for a national IGF, built around cybersecurity.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on IGF Ecuador 2018 (Cuenca) — 'Internet de Confianza' 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 Ecuador 2018 (Cuenca) — 'Internet de Confianza'
Dates	10 November 2018 (Saturday)
Venue	Universidad del Azuay (UDA), Cuenca
Theme	'Internet de Confianza' (A Trusted Internet)
Format	A compact one-day format: opening plenary, four parallel mesas (academia; government and civil society; economy and development; cybersecurity — four speakers each), closing plenary
Host	Coordinated by Carlos Vera Quintana (ISOC Ecuador / CORPECE); UDA rector Francisco Salgado formally inaugurated, education minister Fander Falconí gave the opening keynote and Azuay prefect Paúl Carrasco closed the day. The site billed it as an official UN event, free to attend
Outcome	A 'Pronunciamiento de Cuenca' was read at the closing plenary, alongside a video message from ISOC's Raquel Gatto

(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. A Minister's Keynote and the 'Pronunciamiento de Cuenca' — From Opening to Outcome in One Day

Sessions: Opening plenary (9:00–9:45) and closing plenary (13:40–14:00)

Carlos Vera Quintana opened with a video from ISOC vice-president Raúl Echeberría, education minister Fander Falconí delivered the keynote, and rector Francisco Salgado formally inaugurated the forum [1][3]
The closing plenary read out the 'Pronunciamiento de Cuenca', screened a video from ISOC's Raquel Gatto, and ended with Azuay prefect Paúl Carrasco — national government, university and province all on stage [1][3]

2. The Academia Mesa — Cybersecurity as a Cross-Cutting Curriculum Thread

Sessions: MESA ACADEMIA (10:20–11:50, rapporteur John Tucker Yépez)

UDA's Paúl Crespo argued for cybersecurity as a transversal element of university curricula, and UIDE's Diego Beltrán examined academia's role in national cybersecurity management [1]
Universidad de Cuenca's Luis Espinoza shared his institution's trusted-internet practice and UNL's John Tucker drew lessons for training new professions — a mesa led by the host region's universities [1]

3. The Government and Civil Society Mesa — ETAPA's Privacy Duties and Protecting the Vulnerable

Sessions: MESA GOBIERNO Y SOCIEDAD CIVIL (10:20–11:50, moderated by Humberto Arthos)

Boris Piedra of ETAPA — Cuenca's municipal telecom and utilities firm — set out corporate policies for safeguarding customers' security and privacy [1]
Usuarios Digitales' Daniel Jácome addressed vulnerable groups online, and IXP Ecuador's Edwin Salazar proposed democratising secure access to the network [1]

4. The Economy and Cybersecurity Mesas — Warning of a Missing National Strategy

Sessions: MESA ECONOMÍA Y DESARROLLO and MESA CIBERSEGURIDAD (12:10–13:40)

The economy mesa — NIC.EC, hosting firm Ecuahosting, the cybersecurity association AECI.EC and CISMO — framed security as a competitiveness factor for the digital economy [1][2]
The cybersecurity mesa heard ISOC Ecuador's Arthos, Fundación Huaira's Pedro Franco on the basics of a national strategy, CORPECE's Vera Quintana on the economic and geopolitical risks of lacking one, and CNT's Edith Mayorga on building a trusted ecosystem [1][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What was this meeting?

A. The 2018 edition of Ecuador's national IGF: one day at the Universidad del Azuay in Cuenca on 10 November, four parallel mesas under the single theme of a trusted internet, with the education minister giving the keynote.

Q. What did it decide?

A. Nothing binding, but the day's conclusions were read out as the 'Pronunciamiento de Cuenca', and the repeated call for a national cybersecurity strategy was its substantive message.

Q. Why should I care?

A. A single-theme national IGF that mobilises the host city's university, municipality and public utility is a transferable design for regional internet-governance events.

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

Ecuador 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 2018 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.