The 3-Line Summary
- Serbia's third national IGF met on 11 September 2024 at Dorćol Platz in Belgrade under the theme of preserving the human and the empathetic in the digital future.
- Five panels tackled the UN Global Digital Compact and WSIS+20, the EU's NIS2 directive and Serbia's information-security law, the AI strategy for 2025–2030, digital violence, and the twin green-digital transition.
- Held days before the Global Digital Compact's adoption, the forum shows how a national IGF localises UN digital policy — while its NIS2 and digital-violence debates mirror discussions under way across Europe and beyond.
Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on IGF Serbia 2024 (Serbian Internet Governance Forum) 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 | IGF Serbia 2024 (Serbian Internet Governance Forum) |
| Edition | Third edition |
| Dates | 11 September 2024 |
| Venue | Dorćol Platz, Belgrade, Serbia |
| Theme | How to preserve the human and the empathetic in the digital future |
| Format | In-person, 10:00–16:30, with online streaming |
| Host | Hosted by RNIDS; co-organised with the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, DiploFoundation, the Internet Society of Serbia (Belgrade chapter) and Gransy, supported by the Office of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality and the Cyber Security Network Foundation |
(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. The Global Digital Compact and WSIS+20 — A National Voice at a UN Milestone
Sessions: Keynote by Chengetai Masango (UN IGF Secretariat), 10:20, followed by the panel 'Global, regional and local perspectives on the GDC, WSIS+20 and the IGF20+ review', 10:50
"RNIDS has for years been involved in the dialogues and processes concerning Internet governance (translated from the Serbian original: 'RNIDS je godinama unazad uključen u razgovore i procese koji se tiču upravljanja internetom')"
— Dejan Đukić (Director, RNIDS) [1][2][4]
- Openers were RNIDS director Dejan Đukić, Equality Commissioner Brankica Janković and UNDP Resident Representative Yakup Beris; the panel paired Olga Kyryliuk (Internews/SEEDIG), Desiree Željka Milošević (ISOC Serbia) and ICANN board vice-chair Danko Jevtović, moderated by Slobodan Marković (UNDP) [1][2][4]
- Discussion focused on how the soon-to-be-adopted Global Digital Compact and the WSIS+20/IGF-mandate review play out at global, regional and national levels [1][2][4]
2. NIS2 and the Information Security Law — Implementing EU Rules in Serbia
Sessions: Panel 'NIS2 and the information security law', 12:10
- Milan Vojvodić (Ministry of Information and Telecommunications), Mina Tomić (A1) and RNIDS's Dejan Đukić, moderated by Dušan Stojičević (Gransy), reviewed how the first NIS directive shaped Serbia's information-security law, CERT system and corporate obligations — and what NIS2 will bring [1][2][3]
- The panel concluded the new rules will widen compliance duties for Serbian businesses while smoothing integration with the EU market [1][2][3]
3. AI Strategy 2025–2030 — A Framework Balancing Rights and Growth
Sessions: Panel 'Artificial intelligence: strategy and future', 13:00
- Ana Toskić Cvetinović (Partneri Serbia), Ljubiša Bojić (Serbian AI Research and Development Institute) and Uroš Poluga (Office for ICT) discussed the draft AI development strategy for 2025–2030, moderated by Bogdan Banjac [1][2][3]
- The panel concluded that multisectoral collaboration is essential to legal and strategic frameworks that protect human rights without stifling economic development [1][2][3]
4. Digital Violence and Equality — Criminalising Non-Consensual Pornography
Sessions: Panel 'Digital rights and freedoms', 14:30 (moderator: attorney Kruna Savović)
- Equality Commissioner Brankica Janković, investigative journalist Anđela Milivojević and Branislava Antović Aleksić (BDW Magazine) spoke; Janković argued that criminalising non-consensual pornography should be a legislative priority [1][2][3]
- Panellists described the continuous harassment and abuse women face online and called on media to champion ethical communication by stripping sensationalism from reporting on gender-based violence [1][2][3]
5. The Twin Green-Digital Transition — Human-Centred Sustainability
Sessions: Panel 'Green-digital integration and the twin transition', 15:15, plus lightning talk 'Digital humanities and e-science', 16:00
- UNDP circular-economy analyst Ana Mitić-Radulović and UNDP digital adviser Slobodan Marković presented with five innovation teams; in his opening remarks UNDP Resident Representative Yakup Beris framed the interlinked digital and green transitions as the route to sustainable, human-centred development [1][2]
- The day closed with Vasilije Milnović's lightning talk on digital humanities and e-science and an open-mic forum [1][2]
Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered
Q. So what did the meeting decide?
A. Nothing binding — it was Serbia's third annual multistakeholder forum on digital policy. Meeting days before the UN adopted the Global Digital Compact, it asked how global rules should land at national level.
Q. What was the most concrete issue?
A. Two: how the EU's NIS2 directive will reshape Serbia's information-security law and business obligations, and whether distributing intimate images without consent should become a criminal offence.
Q. Why should I care?
A. NIS2 sets a de facto global bar for critical-infrastructure security that reaches companies far beyond the EU, and the debate on criminalising digital violence mirrors legislative battles in many countries.
What Is Serbia IGF? (for first-time readers)
Serbia 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 2024 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.
Sources & References
- IGF Srbija 2024（公式サイト・プログラム） — IGF Serbia（公式サイト igf.rs） (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Da li je moguće sačuvati humano i empatično u digitalnoj budućnosti（デジタルの未来に人間らしさと共感は残せるか） — BizLife（セルビア語経済メディア） (accessed 2026-07-11)
- "IGF Srbija 2024" seminar o digitalnoj budućnosti 11. septembra u Beogradu — ラジオテレビ・ヴォイヴォディナ（RTV） (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Eastern European Regional Group — NRI records（Serbia IGF: annual meeting 11 September 2024, Belgrade） — 国連IGF事務局 (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 7 June 2024, 09:00 (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
