IGF Serbia 2022 (Serbian Internet Governance Forum) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

1. Serbia held its first national IGF, IGF Serbia 2022, on 26 May 2022 at Dom Omladine in Belgrade — a hybrid meeting with two plenary debates and four panel debates across two parallel stages.
2. Debates covered digital sovereignty and the 'splinternet', cybersecurity skills, the data economy and digital literacy; the outcome messages concluded the Internet would remain one global Internet, though with some elements of a 'splinternet'.
3. The head of the UN IGF Secretariat told the room that Internet governance 'begins at home' — a fitting motto for a country launching its national IGF under its 2021 information-society strategy.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on IGF Serbia 2022 (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)

(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. Launching a National IGF — 'Internet Governance Begins at Home'

Sessions: Opening session, 10:00–10:30 (Chengetai Masango, UN IGF Secretariat; Dejan Đukić, RNIDS; State Secretary Milan Dobrijević; RIPE community Chair Mirjam Kühne)

"Internet governance 'begins at home'"
— Chengetai Masango (Head, UN IGF Secretariat) [1][2][5]

• The first meeting held under the IGF Serbia name and as part of the global IGF's NRI network — delivering a goal of Serbia's Information Society and Information Security Development Strategy approved in autumn 2021 [1][2][5]
• It built on earlier groundwork: a 2009 panel debate on Serbia in the international information-society process and the annual Serbian Internet Dialogue of 2012–2014 [1][2][5]

2. Digital Sovereignty and the Splinternet — Will the Internet Stay Whole?

Sessions: Debate on digital sovereignty

• Panellists weighed the risk of state-driven Internet fragmentation ('splinternet') against EU digital policies and reaffirmed the case for one open Internet [1][3]
• The outcome messages concluded that the Internet 'would continue to be one global Internet, though with some elements of a splinternet' [1][3]

3. Cybersecurity and the Human Factor — Awareness, Education, Competencies

Sessions: Panel 'Cybersecurity and the human factor: awareness, education, competencies' (moderator: Milan Sekuloski)

• Speakers included Dr Marko Krstić (Serbian National CERT), RNIDS director Dejan Đukić and Nebojša Jokić (Cyber Security Network) [4]
• Their shared assessment: investing in people is essential and there is ample room to raise skills — the state plays the lead role, but other organisations must help build educational programmes [4]

4. Data Economy and Digital Literacy — Digitalisation That Protects Citizens' Rights

Sessions: Parallel panels (data economy and the public interest / media, human rights and digital literacy / IT entrepreneurship)

• Sessions addressed user control over personal data, media skills in formal and informal education, state digitalisation and support for IT entrepreneurship [1][3]
• The outcome messages recommended stronger data-protection frameworks, expanded digital-literacy programmes, public-private cybersecurity partnerships and broader multistakeholder participation [1][3]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. So what did the meeting actually decide?

A. National IGFs don't 'decide' — this was the first UN-recognised forum where Serbia's government, business, civil society and technical community discussed Internet policy as equals. The debates were distilled into outcome messages feeding national digital policy.

Q. Why did it only start in 2022?

A. Serbia's information-society strategy, approved in autumn 2021, set the creation of a national IGF as a goal. There was earlier groundwork — the Serbian Internet Dialogue of 2012–2014 — but this was the first meeting under the IGF Serbia name within the global NRI network.

Q. Why should I care?

A. First editions show how a country builds a national dialogue from scratch. Serbia's model — with the domain registry RNIDS as host — is a useful comparison for any country weighing who should anchor its Internet-governance conversation.

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 2022 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.

Sources & References

1. Messages IGF Srbija 2022 — IGF Serbia（公式サイト igf.rs） (accessed 2026-07-11)
2. About us — IGF Serbia — IGF Serbia（公式サイト igf.rs） (accessed 2026-07-11)
3. IGF Srbija 2022（大会アーカイブサイト・プログラム） — IGF Serbia（公式） (accessed 2026-07-11)
4. U Beogradu održan srpski forum o upravljanju internetom（ベオグラードでセルビアIGF開催） — セルビア国家CERT（Nacionalni CERT Republike Srbije） (accessed 2026-07-11)
5. Eastern European Regional Group — NRI records（Serbia IGF: recognized in 2022） — 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 1 June 2022, 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