The 3-Line Summary
- The 6th Regional Internet Governance Forum (RIGF-AZ 2019) met in Baku on 13 March 2019 under the theme 'Cybersecurity: Our Shared Responsibility' — the sixth consecutive edition co-hosted by UNDP and the government.
- As the centrepiece of Azerbaijan's first Cyber Week, it featured a UN Assistant Secretary-General and the ICT minister, who spoke on the Internet's role in human development and inclusive, leave-no-one-behind governance.
- As far as records show, it was the last edition: the national IGF's trail goes cold afterwards, making this a case study in how fragile — and precious — sustained multistakeholder dialogue can be.
Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on RIGF-AZ 2019 — 6th Regional Internet Governance Forum, Azerbaijan 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 | RIGF-AZ 2019 — 6th Regional Internet Governance Forum, Azerbaijan |
| Dates | 13 March 2019 |
| Venue | Baku, Azerbaijan (the specific venue facility could not be confirmed in available sources) |
| Theme | Cybersecurity: Our Shared Responsibility |
| Host | Co-hosted by UNDP and the Government of Azerbaijan (Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies) |
| Context | The centrepiece of Cyber Week 2019 (11–15 March), held in Azerbaijan for the first time |
(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. Cybersecurity as a Shared Responsibility — The Minister on the Internet and Human Development
Sessions: Opening session (13 March)
"Modern technologies and internet play a vital and indispensable role in furthering human development and advancing societies and governments. They create new opportunities for the education and healthcare systems and, among other things, facilitate trade and employment, and modernise the new media"
— Ramin Guluzade (Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies) [1]
- Under the theme 'Cybersecurity: Our Shared Responsibility', government, the private sector, international organisations and subject-matter experts convened to discuss sharing responsibility for a safe Internet [1]
- Cybersecurity was framed not as a purely technical matter but as protection of the infrastructure underpinning education, healthcare, trade and employment [1]
2. Leave No One Behind — A UN Official's Case for Inclusive Governance
Sessions: Opening session (13 March)
"This forum opens up important discussions on the future of internet, exploring ways to tap into the potential of internet technologies to transform the lives of ordinary people and enhance a new generation of governance, creating governance platforms that are more inclusive and accessible to all, Leaving No One Behind"
— Mirjana Spoljaric Egger (UN Assistant Secretary-General; Director, UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS) [1]
- UNDP has partnered with the Government of Azerbaijan for some 18 years, leading one of the region's largest e-governance programmes worth over US$50 million; the forum, co-hosted for six consecutive years, symbolised that partnership [1]
- The SDG principle of 'Leaving No One Behind' was carried into the Internet-governance context, with inclusive and accessible governance platforms set as the goal [1]
3. Cyber Week 2019 — Anchoring the Country's First Cyber Week
Sessions: Cyber Week 2019 (11–15 March)
- Azerbaijan's first international Cyber Security Week ran on 11–15 March to build national cybersecurity capacity and awareness, with this forum as its centrepiece [2][1]
- Alongside the forum, the week featured a hackathon, workshops on 'a sustainable and safe cloud environment' and ISO 27001 certification, and a national research workshop [2][1]
4. Six Consecutive Years, Then Silence — The Baton Passes to a Youth IGF
Sessions: Context: what came after
- UNDP and the government announced the forum as co-hosted for six consecutive years, and the 2019 edition proved its high-water mark: no later editions can be verified and the official site rigf.az has since lapsed [3][4][5]
- In the same year a separate 'Azerbaijan Youth IGF' was registered with the IGF Secretariat, holding its first meeting under the ministry, the Youth Foundation and UNDP — leaving youth engagement as the visible successor to the national forum [3][4][5]
Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered
Q. What was discussed?
A. Under 'Cybersecurity: Our Shared Responsibility', participants debated how government and the private sector should share the burden of a safe Internet. As an IGF-style dialogue it decided nothing — but it was the country's highest-level venue, with a minister and a UN Assistant Secretary-General on stage.
Q. What made this edition distinctive?
A. It anchored Azerbaijan's first Cyber Week: an IGF-style policy dialogue placed in the same week as a hackathon and ISO 27001 training, pairing hands-on exercises with policy talk.
Q. What happened next?
A. As far as records show, this was the last edition. Nothing is documented after 2019 and the official site has lapsed; only the separately registered Azerbaijan Youth IGF, founded the same year, carried on — a real-world example of a national IGF going dormant.
What Is Azerbaijan IGF? (for first-time readers)
Azerbaijan 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 2019 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.
Sources & References
- UNDP, Government of Azerbaijan co-host Regional Internet Governance Forum, for six consecutive years — 国連開発計画（UNDP）アゼルバイジャン事務所 (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Baku to host first international Cyber Security Week — AZERTAC（アゼルバイジャン国営通信） (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Azerbaijan IGF — NRI record — UN IGF Secretariat (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Azerbaijan Youth IGF — NRI record — UN IGF Secretariat (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Azərbaycanda ilk dəfə Gənclərin İnternet İdarəçilik Forumu keçirilib（アゼルバイジャンで初の青年インターネットガバナンスフォーラム開催） — Baktelecom（アゼルバイジャン語） (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 24 June 2019, 12:00 (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
