Second Internet Governance Forum of Panama (II Foro de Gobernanza de Internet Panamá 2019) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

The second Internet Governance Forum of Panama met on 24 July 2019 at the Ciudad del Saber convention centre in Panama City, reviving the forum after a year's pause since the 2017 debut.
Four tracks — cybersecurity/IoT/AI, biometrics and personal data, digital learning platforms, and .pa domains and entrepreneurship — drew speakers from the electoral tribunal, the innovation authority AIG, universities and ICANN.
Its recommendations were carried to LACIGF in Bolivia the next month and to the global IGF in Berlin at year's end — a textbook run of the IGF's national-to-regional-to-global escalator.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Second Internet Governance Forum of Panama (II Foro de Gobernanza de Internet Panamá 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	Second Internet Governance Forum of Panama (II Foro de Gobernanza de Internet Panamá 2019)
Edition	Second edition — the University of Panama's report calls it the 'II Foro'; there was no 2018 edition, and the catalogue's earlier 'first edition' claim is wrong (the debut was 24 October 2017)
Dates	24 July 2019, 9:00–15:00
Venue	Convention Centre (Building 184), Ciudad del Saber, Clayton, Panama City
Theme	Regional governance themes
Host	IPANDETEC (secretariat; series coordinator to the UN IGF Secretariat: Lía Hernández) and the IGF Panamá working group
Outcome	The forum's recommendations were handed to Panama's delegates to LACIGF 2019 (6–8 August, La Paz, Bolivia) and the global IGF 2019 (25–29 November, Berlin)

(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. Cybersecurity, IoT and AI — Starting from a Ten-Year Vision

Sessions: Track 1: 'Cybersecurity, IoT and Artificial Intelligence', moderated by Néstor Ríos (Fundación Vida Segura)

Alex Neuman (Vida Digital), Silvia Batista (innovation authority AIG), Donna Roper (University of Panama) and Carlos Alvarado (Fronteras Security) spanned security and emerging-technology challenges [1][2]
The forum's stated aim was to set out a ten-year vision for Internet governance, aligning technological change with society's pace [1][2]
Coordinator Lía Hernández (IPANDETEC executive director) framed it as the meeting of every sector involved in Panama's Internet security — private, academic, government, civil-society and technical [1][2]

2. Biometrics and Personal Data — With the Electoral Tribunal at the Table

Sessions: Track 2: 'Biometrics and personal-data integrity', moderated by Lía Hernández (IPANDETEC)

John Palm (Electoral Tribunal), Juan Carlos Reynardus (Panama Legal Group) and Raúl Milán (ISOC Panamá) examined biometric-data handling and personal-data integrity [1][2]
With Panama's data-protection law (Law 81) enacted that March, speakers urged learning from regional precedents to regulate coherently and lead Central America [1][2]

3. Learning Platforms and .pa Domains — Implementing Inclusion and Entrepreneurship

Sessions: Tracks 3 and 4: digital learning platforms (mod. Gustavo Díaz, University of Panama) and .pa domains in entrepreneurship (mod. Daniel Fink, ICANN)

The learning-platforms panel — Iván Chanis (Fundación Iguales), Margorie Merel (Creative Commons), Anabelle Broce (AIG) and others — discussed education technology for access and inclusion [1][2]
The .pa panel, moderated by ICANN's Daniel Fink, brought UTP/NIC.pa, Credicorp Bank, The Blockchain Space and small-business agency AMPYME together on the ccTLD as an entrepreneurial asset [1][2]
Awareness of healthy technology use across generations, and digitalising micro and small businesses — 'the engine of every economy' — were pressed as national priorities [1][2]

4. From National to Regional to Global — The Pipeline to LACIGF and Berlin

Sessions: Closing and outcome consolidation

The forum's conclusions were packaged as recommendations for Panama's delegates to LACIGF 2019, held 6–8 August in La Paz, Bolivia [1]
A further hand-off to the global IGF in Berlin (25–29 November) was announced — the national-regional-global escalator working as designed [1]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What was discussed?

A. Four tracks: cybersecurity/IoT/AI, biometrics and personal data, digital learning platforms, and using the .pa domain for entrepreneurship — plus how to apply Panama's brand-new data-protection law.

Q. Why was there no 2018 edition?

A. No record or press trace of a 2018 meeting exists; the second forum came two years after the 2017 debut — a breathing space common to young national IGFs before they settle into an annual rhythm.

Q. Why should I care?

A. It executed the IGF's three-stage relay faithfully: national conclusions handed as recommendations to the regional LACIGF and then the global IGF in Berlin — a model for linking local dialogue to international negotiation.

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

Panama 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.