The 3-Line Summary
- On 3 October 2024, FGI France met at Campus Fonderie de l'Image in Bagnolet, just east of Paris, and online; the opening plenary debated the future of internet governance with ICANN, UNESCO and leading researchers.
- A youth AI hackathon/ideathon, citizen participation in AI governance, France's eco-design standard for digital services (RGESN), and cyber-resilience and geopolitics headlined the day, which closed with a keynote by digital ambassador Henri Verdier and a plenary on the internet's societal responsibility.
- Coming just after the UN's Global Digital Compact was adopted, it packed AI, sustainability and citizen participation into one day — and its school-campus, youth-first format is a model worth watching.
Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on FGI France 2024 (French 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.
📍 Officially billed as 'in Paris and online'; the actual venue, Campus Fonderie de l'Image, is in Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis), immediately adjacent to Paris
Conference at a Glance (from official records)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | FGI France 2024 (French Internet Governance Forum) |
| Dates | 3 October 2024 |
| Venue | Campus Fonderie de l'Image, 83 avenue Gallieni, Bagnolet, and online |
| Theme | Regional governance themes |
| Host | Internet Society France, co-organised with Fusion Jeunesse and the French National Digital Council (CNNum), among others |
(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 Future of Internet Governance — A Health Check After the Global Digital Compact
Sessions: Opening plenary 'The future of internet governance' (9:30, moderated by Lucien Castex and Francesca Musiani)
- Constance Bommelaer de Leusse (AI & Society Institute, ENS-PSL), Olivier Crépin-Leblond (Internet Society UK chair), Chris Mondini (ICANN VP for stakeholder engagement in Europe) and Cédric Wachholz (UNESCO digital policy chief) debated where multistakeholder governance goes next [1][2]
- Sébastien Bachollet, president of Internet Society France, opened the day with Florence Guebey, director of the host school, in a line-up spanning academia, the technical community and international organisations [1][2]
2. AI Hackathon and Citizen Participation — Bringing Youth to the Governance Table
Sessions: AI hackathon/ideathon (announced 9:20, run 14:00–15:30) and round table 'What place for citizens in the international governance of AI?' (Renaissance Numérique)
- An AI hackathon/ideathon led by Gabriel Bran Lopez, president of the education non-profit Fusion Jeunesse, had young participants pitch AI solutions to societal challenges such as health-emergency management [1][4]
- Renaissance Numérique's round table tackled three questions head-on: who represents citizens in AI governance bodies, what tools citizens actually have, and whether lessons from other sectors can be transposed [1][4]
- The 'Les Arts d'à Côté' exhibition ran throughout the day, keeping the forum open to non-specialist audiences [1][4]
3. Eco-Design for Digital Services — France's New RGESN Standard
Sessions: Keynote on the RGESN, France's general eco-design framework for digital services (10:45, Xavier Merlin, Arcep board member), and related workshops
- Xavier Merlin, board member of French regulator Arcep, presented the RGESN — France's general framework for eco-designing digital services — and urged practitioners to adopt it [2][1]
- Workshops involving Elie Sloïm, founder of quality-assurance body Opquast, connected eco-design to a broader framework of quality and corporate responsibility in digital services [2][1]
4. From Cyber-Resilience to Societal Responsibility — The Closing Question
Sessions: Cyber-resilience and geopolitics workshop; closing keynote (16:15, Henri Verdier) and closing plenary 'The internet in the service of our societal responsibility' (16:30)
- A daytime workshop examined cyber-resilience and geopolitics, focusing on the robustness of communications infrastructure amid international tensions [2][1]
- Henri Verdier, France's ambassador for digital affairs, delivered the closing keynote, followed by a plenary in which Mathieu Delemme (CTRL-A) and fellow panellists weighed the internet's environmental, labour, economic and privacy responsibilities [2][1]
Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered
Q. What kind of event was this?
A. France's national IGF. The 2024 edition met at a design school in Bagnolet, on Paris's doorstep, and squeezed AI, sustainability and citizen participation into one day — right after the UN adopted the Global Digital Compact.
Q. What were the highlights?
A. Two things: a youth hackathon/ideathon using AI on societal challenges, and France's RGESN eco-design standard for digital services — putting young people and the environment at the heart of governance talk.
Q. Why should I care?
A. Eco-design rules for online services and the question of who speaks for citizens in AI governance are landing in policy debates everywhere. The school-campus, youth-first format is also a transferable idea.
What Is France IGF? (for first-time readers)
France 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
- Forum sur la Gouvernance de l'Internet France 2024, le 3 octobre à Paris et en ligne — Internet Society France (accessed 2026-07-11)
- WEBCAST OCT 3: France Internet Governance Forum 2024 — ISOC LIVE (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Forum sur la Gouvernance de l'Internet (FGI) France 2024（アジェンダ） — Afnic (accessed 2026-07-11)
- IGF France 2024 — Renaissance Numérique (accessed 2026-07-11)
- FGI France 公式サイト（沿革・アーカイブ、2024年版リプレイ） — igf-france.fr (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 22 June 2024, 12:00 (Article published)
Rev. 2 — updated 16 July 2026, 20:09 (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
