9th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum Spain (IGF Spain 2019) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 7 November 2019, the 9th IGF Spain annual meeting ran seven roundtables at ETSIT-UPM in Madrid under the theme 'Conflict on the Net?'.
It examined the risk of a fragmented Internet — cyberattacks, disinformation, election interference — the role of bodies like ICANN in preventing it, plus digital identity and tech for the SDGs.
Held just three days before Spain's general election, it re-examined the relationship between democracy and the net, including the Web Foundation's Contract for the Web.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on 9th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum Spain (IGF Spain 2019) 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	9th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum Spain (IGF Spain 2019)
Edition	9th Annual Meeting
Dates	7 November 2019
Venue	Assembly hall, ETSIT-UPM (Av. Complutense 30, Building C), Madrid
Theme	'Conflict on the Net? The Internet as the global strategic chessboard'
Participants	Over 100 participants
Sessions	7 (Seven roundtables and expert presentations in a one-day format)
Keynote	Keynote by José Manuel Alonso (Director, Strategy and Partnerships, World Wide Web Foundation): 'The Internet in global geostrategy: a new social contract for the web'
Host	Coordinated by Jorge Pérez; supported by UPM, Telefónica, Vodafone, Google, Orange and the economy ministry

(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 Fragmentation Threat — Can the Open Internet Hold?

Sessions: Opening session and roundtable on stakeholders working against Internet fragmentation

Coordinator Jorge Pérez stressed keeping the Internet open and global against governments' temptation to filter content and services [1][2]
Panellists analysed threats that could fragment the network — cyberattacks, disinformation, election interference — and the role of multistakeholder bodies like ICANN in guaranteeing the open model [1][2]

2. A New Social Contract for the Web — The Web Foundation's Vision

Sessions: Keynote by José Manuel Alonso (7 November, 10:30)

The keynote framed technology and science as the core of today's global power, with the Internet as the new arena of great-power competition [1][2]
A senior figure of Tim Berners-Lee's Web Foundation argued for a 'new social contract for the web', the thinking behind the Contract for the Web launched at the UN IGF in Berlin later that month [1][2]
Introduced by Emilia Pérez of Agencia EFE, the talk balanced current threats with strategies to counter them [1][2]

3. Disinformation Three Days Before a General Election — Democracy and Technology

Sessions: Roundtables on democracy, public communication and citizen participation

Meeting just before Spain's 10 November general election — the second that year — participants debated how new technologies affect democratic institutions, public communication and participation [1][2]
Free expression, secure digital identity and emerging technologies' contribution to the SDGs were examined through the lenses of inclusion, security and human rights [1][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did the meeting decide?

A. Nothing binding — but framing the Internet as 'the global strategic chessboard' was itself the message: a defence of the open net, staged days before a national election.

Q. What was the highlight?

A. The Web Foundation's call for a 'new social contract for the web', prefiguring the Contract for the Web unveiled at the UN IGF in Berlin the same month.

Q. Why does it matter?

A. Disinformation and election interference became universal challenges, and the Contract for the Web gathered signatories worldwide, including major companies.

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

Spain 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 2019 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.