The 3-Line Summary
- The 19th Caribbean IGF and 2nd Caribbean Youth IGF convened in hybrid form from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 22–24 August 2023, drawing 291 registered participants under the theme 'Evolving Caribbean Internet Governance Priorities for Sustainable Development.'
- AI governance dominated the agenda — UNESCO presented an AI policy roadmap for the Caribbean — and the forum approved updates to the region's shared Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework (Issue 4.0).
- The UN tech envoy called an open, secure Internet 'literally a matter of life and death' for small island states; the forum's outputs fed into the UN IGF in Kyoto that October, where the CTU hosted an Open Forum.
Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Caribbean IGF 2023 in Port of Spain draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.
📍 The catalogue lists Kingston, Jamaica, but the CTU's announcement and ARIN's event record place the 19th CIGF (22–24 August 2023) in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, staged in hybrid (in-person plus online) form; no record supporting a Kingston staging was found
Conference at a Glance (from official records)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Edition | 19th Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF), held with the 2nd Caribbean Youth IGF (CYIGF) |
| Dates | 22–24 August 2023 |
| Venue | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (hybrid staging) |
| Theme | Evolving Caribbean Internet Governance Priorities for Sustainable Development |
| Format | Hybrid: in-person plus Zoom, also streamed to YouTube and Facebook |
| Host | Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) |
| Outcome | Approved updates to the 2016 edition of the Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework (Issue 4.0); the CTU announced an Open Forum at the UN IGF in Kyoto on 12 October 2023 |
(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. AI Governance — The Topic That Dominated the Agenda
Sessions: Day 3 (24 Aug) hot topic 'Artificial Intelligence' and UNESCO's 'AI in the Caribbean – Policy Roadmap' session
- Paul Hector of UNESCO presented an AI policy roadmap for the Caribbean, covering AI standards, capacity building and open data for Small Island Developing States [1][2]
- In his closing remarks, CTU Secretary-General Taylor noted how AI had dominated the agenda; open-mic questions ranged from AI in the cosmetology industry to the legality of AI images based on a person's likeness [1][2]
2. 'A Matter of Life and Death' for Small Islands — the Open Internet and the Global Digital Compact
Sessions: Opening ceremony (23 Aug): message from the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology
"Keeping the internet open, free, secure and inclusive is a crucial global priority"
— Amandeep Singh Gill (UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology) [1][2]
"For the small island developing states, it is literally a matter of life and death"
— Amandeep Singh Gill (UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology) [1][2]
- The envoy noted that the UN's Global Digital Compact negotiations were receiving substantive Caribbean input via the IGF [1][2]
- Citing the launch of a leadership panel to elevate the IGF's work, he urged stronger support than ever for the Internet's established multistakeholder institutions [1][2]
3. Cybersecurity Capacity Building — UN Processes Meet Small-State Realities
Sessions: Day 1 (22 Aug) capacity-building session 'Cybersecurity and Cybercrime – International Cooperative Frameworks and National Imperatives'
- Andrea Martin-Swaby, Jamaica's Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and head of its Cybercrime & Digital Forensics Unit, drew on the UN OEWG report to argue for practical, demand-driven capacity building tailored to small developing countries, such as strengthening investigators' knowledge of ransomware [2]
- Ambassador Claudio Peguero of the Dominican Republic traced multilateral capacity-building efforts — from the creation of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise to the Latin American and Caribbean Cyber Competence Centre in the Dominican Republic — and stressed avoiding duplication of efforts [2]
4. Caribbean IG Policy Framework Issue 4.0 — Data Protection as a Human Right or a Business Enabler
Sessions: Days 2–3 workshop 'Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework Issue 4.0'
- The workshop weighed data protection as a human right against data protection as an enabler of free enterprise, refining the framework's sections on cyber culture, security and crime, and highlighting law reform for human rights online [1][2]
- Updates to the 2016 edition were approved, with a final draft to be circulated and awareness strategies — including social media and blog posts — to follow [1][2]
5. From Youth to Kyoto — the Next Generation and the Road to IGF Kyoto
Sessions: Day 1 (22 Aug) 2nd Caribbean Youth IGF and the opening ceremony
"The Caribbean Youth IGF exemplifies your forward-thinking approach, ensuring that the next generation of experts and leaders skillfully advances the legacy of internet governance"
— Chengetai Masango (UN IGF Secretariat) [1][2]
"The CTU will host an Open Forum on 12th October 2023 at the United Nations 18th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) taking place in Kyoto, Japan from 8th to 12th October 2023"
— Rodney Taylor (CTU Secretary-General) [1][2]
- Anya Gengo of the UN IGF Secretariat reported that over 800 session proposals had been cleared for Kyoto, producing a programme of more than 300 sessions with a significant Caribbean presence; the forum's outputs were framed as direct inputs to Kyoto [1][2]
Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered
Q. What did the meeting actually decide?
A. It approved updates to the region's shared policy document, the Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework (Issue 4.0) — a substantial revision for the AI era that even debated whether data protection should be framed as a human right.
Q. What was the hottest topic?
A. AI governance. UNESCO presented an AI policy roadmap for the Caribbean, and the CTU Secretary-General noted in closing that AI had dominated the agenda — from capacity building to youth sessions to open-mic questions.
Q. Why should I care?
A. The forum's outputs fed straight into the UN IGF in Kyoto two months later, where the CTU hosted its own Open Forum — a clear example of a regional IGF shaping the global conversation.
What Is Caribbean IGF? (for first-time readers)
Caribbean 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
- Caribbean Internet Governance Forum Examines Governance of Artificial Intelligence — CTU (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Report on the 19th Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (PDF) — CTU (accessed 2026-07-11)
- 19th Caribbean Internet Governance Forum and 2nd Caribbean Youth Internet Governance Forum（公式イベントページ） — CTU (accessed 2026-07-11)
- 19th Caribbean Internet Governance Forum — ARIN（米国・カリブ地域インターネットレジストリ） (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 26 August 2023, 12:00 (Article published)
Rev. 2 — updated 11 July 2026, 02:14 (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
