TTIGF 2022 — Trinidad and Tobago Internet Governance Forum 2022 — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 27–28 January 2022, TTIGF 2022 ran fully online under the theme 'The Future of the Internet … WHAT'S NEXT?' — 446 registrants, four panels, 20 speakers, and 'father of the internet' Vint Cerf as keynote.
Framing the goal as moving from adapting to thriving in a digital society, the two days covered digital competency in education, internet research and measurement, the internet and the law, and the government's digital transformation journey.
It was the pandemic-era online format perfected — with the outgoing UN IGF MAG chair and the digital transformation minister also on the bill, showing how a small state stacks world-class speakers.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on TTIGF 2022 — Trinidad and Tobago Internet Governance Forum 2022 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	TTIGF 2022 — Trinidad and Tobago Internet Governance Forum 2022
Dates	27–28 January 2022 (8 am – 1 pm daily)
Venue	Online (simulcast via YouTube Live, ISOC channels and Zoom) (The official report's format field lists only streaming channels, with no physical venue; the catalogue's 'Port of Spain' reflects the organisers' base, not a verified venue)
Theme	Regional governance themes
Participants	446 (446 Eventbrite registrants (official report); YouTube Live views 463 (day 1) and 334 (day 2), Facebook reach 957; four panels, 20 speakers)
Host	Hosted by TTMAG (chair Anita Sohan)
Outcome	Theme 'The Future of the Internet … WHAT'S NEXT?', with Vint Cerf giving both the opening and closing keynotes; a 27-page official report was published

(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. Vint Cerf, Opening and Closing — Asking 'What's Next?' Head-On

Sessions: Keynotes (opening 27 Jan, closing 28 Jan; with Anriette Esterhuysen, outgoing UN-IGF MAG chair, and Senator Hassel Bacchus, Minister of Digital Transformation)

TCP/IP co-designer and Google VP Vint Cerf opened the forum and kicked off the open forum on 'what's next' for Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean [1][2]
Anriette Esterhuysen, who chaired the UN IGF's MAG in 2019–2021, wired the forum into the global governance debate [1][2]
Senator Hassel Bacchus of the newly created Ministry of Digital Transformation gave the government keynote [1][2]

2. A Digitally Competent Society — 'ICT Is Like Salt: It's in Everything'

Sessions: Panel 1 'Building a Digitally Competent Society' (27 Jan; moderator Dr. Sanjay Bahadoorsingh, TTMAG director)

Educators, industry and parents together examined ICT competency's absence from mainstream schooling and primary-level curriculum reform (with UK examples) [2]
Microsoft's panellist cited LinkedIn data that 149 million digital-skill jobs would be created by 2025, with the pandemic accelerating the fourth industrial revolution [2]
Parents reported the household costs of remote schooling first-hand: multiple devices, learning environments at home, and online-safety training [2]

3. No Policy Without Measurement — Research, Data and the Law

Sessions: Panels 'Enhancing Internet Research, Data and Measurement for Development' (27 Jan) and 'The Internet and the Law' (28 Jan)

A dedicated panel on research, data and measurement addressed the evidence base for connectivity policy [1][2]
'The Internet and the Law' mapped where legal frameworks lag digitisation — e-transactions, cybercrime, data protection [1][2]
The closing panel on the government's digital transformation journey turned the conference theme into a sector-by-sector progress review [1][2]

4. The Online Format Perfected — 446 Registrants Across Simulcast Channels

Sessions: The event's format and participation statistics

The official report lists the format purely as a YouTube/ISOC/Zoom simulcast — no physical venue — the in-person series' pandemic adaptation [2][1]
446 Eventbrite registrants, 797 YouTube views over two days and a Facebook reach of 957 far exceeded earlier in-person editions [2][1]
The series returned to in-person from 2023, but simulcasting remained standard [2][1]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. Vint Cerf, really?

A. Yes — the TCP/IP co-designer keynoted both the opening and the closing. The IGF network is how a nation of 1.4 million gets the 'father of the internet' on its programme.

Q. Where was the venue?

A. There wasn't one: the official report lists only the YouTube/ISOC/Zoom simulcast. Fully online, with 446 registrants — bigger than the in-person years.

Q. Why should I care?

A. Digital competency in schools and a ministry-level DX progress review are agendas most countries share, and the online format shows how to book global names cheaply.

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

Trinidad 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 2022 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.