IGF MKD 2023 (North Macedonia IGF) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

1. On 15 May 2023 the sixth IGF MKD met in Skopje and online — a restart after the 2022 gap, and the first edition under new coordinator Marko Paloski, a young IT engineer.
2. Two panels anchored the day: the sociological and legal aspects of AI (IP and copyright) amid the generative-AI boom, and real cyber-attack cases from the region; the RIPE chair and an ICANN board member joined online.
3. It is the record of a generational handover and of a national IGF rebuilding after a pause — the sustainability problem every volunteer-run forum, Japan's included, knows well.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on IGF MKD 2023 (North Macedonia IGF) 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)

(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. Handover and Restart — Folding 2022/23 into One Edition

Sessions: Opening session (12:00–12:30): opening remarks and 'What is IG and IGF?'

"As we in IGF MKD cherish the idea that every organization needs fresh blood and new energy, in 2023 IGF MKD elected new coordinator — Marko Paloski, a young IT engineer, and I have assumed the membership position in the supervisory board (from the IGFSA statement)"
— Aleksandar Icokaev (founding coordinator, 2023 IGFSA statement) [4][3][5]

• Paloski — the student who founded Youth IGF MKD in 2018 — took over the national forum, opening with a 'What is IG and IGF?' primer aimed at newcomers [4][3][5]
• The founding coordinator's statement notes the team 'managed to organize an annual event for 2022/23 with the help of local supporters', closing the one-year gap with a single combined edition [4][3][5]

2. AI, IP and Copyright — The Legal Debate in the Generative-AI Boom

Sessions: Panel: 'Artificial intelligence – sociological and legal aspects (IP & Copyrights)' (13:00–14:00, moderated by Aleksandar Icokaev)

• Six months after ChatGPT's release, law professor Neda Zdraveva, Konekt's Nikica Kusinikova and React's Xavier Koehoorn debated AI outputs, copyright and IP [1][2]
• For a forum that had kept AI on the agenda since 2018, generative-AI copyright was a natural next chapter — moderated by the lawyer who founded the forum [1][2]

3. Cyber-Attacks That Hit the Region — Learning from Real Cases

Sessions: Panel: 'Cybersecurity – real examples of cyber-attacks in the region: experiences and challenges' (14:00–15:00, moderated by Marko Paloski)

• Milan Sekuloski of Estonia's e-Governance Academy, FINKI's Prof. Boro Jakimovski and CPP's Filip Simeonovski examined real attacks experienced in the Western Balkans [1][2]
• Coming after a wave of major attacks on governments in the neighbourhood the previous year, the case-based defence discussion carried unmistakable regional urgency [1][2]

4. Lines to the Global Community — RIPE Chair, ICANN Board, ICANN Fellow

Sessions: Addresses from the international IG community (12:30–13:00)

• RIPE chair Mirjam Kühne and ICANN board member Leon Sanchez addressed the forum online — a small national forum on first-name terms with the technical community's global bodies [1][2]
• Oliver Risteski of the Ministry of Interior, an ICANN Fellow, reported on the fellowship as a pipeline sending local talent into international meetings [1][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did this meeting decide?

A. Nothing binding — it was the sixth edition of the national dialogue, restarted after a one-year pause, with generative-AI copyright and regional cyber-attacks as its very-2023 twin pillars.

Q. Why was there no 2022 edition?

A. Volunteer capacity. The founder's statement frankly records organising 'an annual event for 2022/23 with the help of local supporters' — the May 2023 meeting effectively covered both years.

Q. Why should I care?

A. AI-and-copyright is on every country's legal agenda, and the succession-and-sustainability story is one every volunteer-run internet forum will recognise.

What Is North Macedonia IGF? (for first-time readers)

North Macedonia 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.

Sources & References

1. Agenda 2023（IGF MKD 2023 プログラム） — IGF MKD（公式サイト） (accessed 2026-07-11)
2. IGF MKD 2023（公式配信映像・2023年5月15日公開） — IGF MKD（YouTubeチャンネル） (accessed 2026-07-11)
3. North Macedonia IGF（NRI公式ページ。「2023年5月15日にスコピエとオンラインで開催」。直接アクセスは403のため検索スニペット経由で確認） — UN IGF Secretariat (accessed 2026-07-11)
4. Aleksandar Icokaev – Statement of Interest（初代コーディネーターのIGFSA提出声明。2022/23合同開催・新体制の経緯） — Internet Governance Forum Support Association (accessed 2026-07-11)
5. IGF MKD 公式サイト（年次アーカイブ一覧。2022年のページは存在しない） — IGF MKD (accessed 2026-07-11)

Quotes are translated or condensed from the records listed above. Bracketed numbers [n] refer to the source list.

Related links

• IGF official (NRI list): https://www.intgovforum.org/en/content/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives
• Japan IGF: https://japanigf.jp/
• Yuki Nakazawa's blog: https://nkzw.jp/category/igf/

Revision History

Rev. 1 — published 20 June 2023, 14:00 (Article published)

Rev. 2 — updated 17 July 2026, 12:32 (Fully revised into the in-depth edition: added the 3-line summary, minutes digest, short talk, source list and diagrams (all quotes verified against the listed sources))

— 中澤祐樹