BHIGF 2023 (Bosnia and Herzegovina Internet Governance Forum / BH IGF) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 2 October 2023, at the Novotel Bristol in Sarajevo, the Bosnia and Herzegovina IGF returned from a five-year pause — a fourth edition run by a new committee led by investigative outlet BIRN BiH.
Speakers confronted grim numbers — 15 million attempted cyberattacks in months, and still no CERT — alongside genocide denial and online hate; the conclusions travelled to the global IGF in Kyoto.
A country rated the Western Balkans' least prepared against cyberattacks rebuilt its governance dialogue through civil society — a case study in restarting a dormant national IGF.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on BHIGF 2023 (Bosnia and Herzegovina Internet Governance Forum / BH IGF) 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	BHIGF 2023 (Bosnia and Herzegovina Internet Governance Forum / BH IGF)
Edition	Fourth edition — the relaunch after what the organisers themselves call a five-year pause ('pet godina pauze') since 2017; stewardship passed from One World Platform to a BIRN-led committee, with coordinator Aida Mahmutović (BIRN) providing continuity from the first edition
Dates	2 October 2023, 09:30–14:00 (hybrid: onsite and online)
Venue	Novotel Bristol Sarajevo, Fra Filipa Lastrića St, Sarajevo
Theme	Regional governance themes
Supporters	Internet Society Foundation, the British Embassy in BiH and the Hanns Seidel Foundation
Host	Organising committee: BIRN BiH (Balkan Investigative Reporting Network), the Cyber Security Excellence Centre (CSEC), BHNIX.ba, the FBiH Centre for the Education of Judges and Prosecutors (CEST FBiH), the University of Sarajevo Faculty of Political Sciences, and Logosoft
Outcome	Conclusions and recommendations were conveyed to the global IGF 2023 in Kyoto, Japan

(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 Without a CERT — 15 Million Attempted Attacks

Sessions: Cybersecurity session, including the presentation of CSEC's new threat report

"One proof of this is the 15 million attempted cyberattacks in BiH in the last few months"
— Julian Reilly, British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina [2][1]

"If you don't have a CERT, it's like not having a State Department"
— Arben Murtezić, Director, FBiH Centre for the Education of Judges and Prosecutors [2][1]

BiH was described as the Western Balkans' least equipped country against cyberattacks, still lacking a national CERT and the strategic and legal framework to match [2][1]
Structural blockers were named: a labyrinthine state administration stalling CERT formation, and civil-service salaries that cannot compete for IT talent [2][1]

2. Genocide Denial and Online Hate — A Post-War Society's Internet

Sessions: Sessions on human rights and expression online

The forum confronted genocide denial, glorification of war criminals, historical revisionism and the spread of hate speech online — challenges with a distinctly Bosnian edge [2]
LGBTIQ+ activist Lejla Huremović and others put ICT-mediated violence against women and marginalised groups on the agenda [2]
Recommendations included media regulation addressing revisionism and genocide denial, victim-centred judicial responses to online violence, and multi-perspective civic education [2]

3. A 'Largely Unregulated' Cyberspace — UN Warnings and Human Rights

Sessions: Opening and human-rights segments, with UN officials on stage and on video

"Cyberspace remains largely unregulated and that is problematic"
— Ingrid Macdonald, UN Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina [2][4]

Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, sent a video message, and Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, was among the listed speakers [2][4]
Participants converged on the diagnosis that disinformation coupled with hate threatens human rights and democratic processes — and that the absence of any systemic approach to Internet governance is the root problem [2][4]

4. Back After Five Years — A BIRN-Led Revival Wired into Kyoto

Sessions: Across the forum and closing

The official site records the return 'after a five-year pause' following the 2015–2017 editions, with stewardship passing from One World Platform to a coalition of BIRN BiH and cybersecurity, judicial and technical institutions [3][1][2]
A participatory twist let registrants vote for two priority topics out of eight candidates [3][1][2]
The forum's conclusions were submitted to the global IGF 2023 in Kyoto that same month, reconnecting the national dialogue to the worldwide process [3][1][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What kind of meeting was this?

A. The revival of Bosnia and Herzegovina's national IGF after five dormant years, held at a Sarajevo hotel under a new committee led by investigative outlet BIRN — a focused half-day on cybersecurity and human rights online.

Q. What was the most alarming takeaway?

A. The country still has no national CERT. Speakers cited 15 million attempted cyberattacks within months, and one summed it up: not having a CERT is like not having a foreign ministry.

Q. Why should I care?

A. The forum's recommendations fed into the UN's IGF 2023 in Kyoto. National dialogues like this one are the raw material of the global process — this is what the bottom-up in 'bottom-up governance' actually looks like.

What Is Bosnia IGF? (for first-time readers)

Bosnia 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.