Danish Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2023 — Who Bears Responsibility? — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On the morning of 12 December 2023, 'Dansk IGF 2023' met at Industriens Hus in Copenhagen, led by the Agency for Digital Government under the theme 'Who bears responsibility — digital ethics and security in a changing world'.
Keynotes came from digital-ethics scholar Mikkel Flyverbom and MEP Christel Schaldemose, the European Parliament's Digital Services Act rapporteur, with four sessions on data sharing, data ethics, workplace surveillance and public procurement.
Backed by ten partners from the .dk registry to human-rights bodies and the UN Association, it was Denmark's forum asking where responsibility lies in the year generative AI went mainstream.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Danish Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2023 — Who Bears Responsibility? 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	Danish Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2023 — Who Bears Responsibility?
Dates	12 December 2023 (08:00–13:00)
Venue	Industriens Hus (H.C. Andersens Boulevard 18), Copenhagen
Theme	Who bears responsibility — digital ethics and security in a changing world
Host	Organised by the Danish Agency for Digital Government (Digitaliseringsstyrelsen) with DI Digital, partnered by Punktum.dk (the .dk registry), IT Branchen, the UN Association, A2012, Rettighedsalliancen, the Council for Digital Security, Digital Lead, Dansk Erhverv and the Institute for Human Rights

(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. Keynotes — A Decade of Digital Ethics, and the DSA's Legislator

Sessions: Keynotes: Professor Mikkel Flyverbom (CBS) and MEP Christel Schaldemose (09:00–10:00)

Professor Flyverbom — who anchored the early Dansk IGF at CBS and sits on Denmark's Data Ethics Council — opened on digital ethics and responsibility in a changing world [1][2]
MEP Schaldemose, the European Parliament's rapporteur for the Digital Services Act, addressed how responsibility is shared among platforms, governments and users as the DSA enters enforcement [1][2]

2. Data Sharing versus Conflicting Regulation

Sessions: Sessions 'The Internet and data sharing — when regulation conflicts' and 'Data ethics and responsible AI in practice' (10:10–11:00)

Participants worked through cases where data-use policies collide with GDPR-style protection rules — a practical problem multiplied by 2023's wave of EU data legislation [1][2]
A parallel session on data ethics and responsible AI in practice addressed operationalising ethical principles amid the rapid spread of generative AI [1][2]

3. Workplace Surveillance and Public Procurement — Responsibility Close to Home

Sessions: Sessions 'Security and privacy in the workplace' and 'Public procurement of digital solutions' (11:30–12:20)

One session weighed workplace security measures against employee privacy — an issue for every organisation [1][2]
The procurement session asked how security and ethics requirements should be written into public purchases of digital solutions, tying the forum to the digitalisation agency's own practice [1][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did the meeting decide?

A. Nothing binding — a free half-day dialogue convened by the digitalisation agency with ten partners on where responsibility lies in the digital society.

Q. What was the highlight?

A. Hearing from the DSA's own legislator: MEP Christel Schaldemose, the European Parliament's rapporteur, on who owes what as platform regulation moves into enforcement.

Q. Why does it matter?

A. Conflicting data rules, workplace surveillance and security requirements in public procurement are questions every digitising government and company now faces.

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

Denmark 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 2023 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.