Description:

Preface: Global digital transformation is drawing policy attention and increased regulatory activity around converging technologies, but inclusion in and facilitation of these conversations is strained by intense competition over skills, resources, and information. If left unaddressed, this rapid transformation will widen the digital divide, inhibiting the adoption of beneficial technologies globally and disadvantaging developing countries and smaller actors. This will leave many countries with a limited governance and adoption plan for these new technologies that present tremendous social and economic opportunity, but have novel privacy, safety, and security challenges that will impact vulnerable populations most. Capacity building in the age of convergence necessitates a diverse, multistakeholder conversation. The experts gathered as speakers and guides for this workshop represent different geographies, international institutions, civil society, and the private sector, each critical for the resources and perspectives that must be represented in order to advance capacity building. These experts have extensive practical experience in capacity building and are currently working on relevant capacity building efforts in converging technology, such as for 5G, AI, and IoT. Participants will be encouraged to think creatively about policy and non-policy tools and leveraging multistakeholder groups to advance capacity building. Structure and Methodology: This workshop will begin with a panel discussion to offer varied perspectives on the challenges of governance of converging technologies. Participants will then use design thinking methodology in active break-out sessions with mixed stakeholder groups and the expert speakers to identify policy and non-policy tools to support capacity building for adoption and governance of converging technologies with a near-term focus. Each stakeholder group is encouraged to suggest activities that their group would act upon. When they reconvene after the break-out section, panelists and participants will discuss the role of each stakeholder group in implementing the tools identified. This format will produce concrete, near-term recommendations on tools for capacity building. The multistakeholder collaboration will highlight how each group can work together to support capacity building (see Section 6 for expected outcomes and ongoing discussion). After the break-out sessions, participants will reconvene for reflection, discussion, and questions. Agenda: - 10 minutes: Opening remarks and introduction of the topic, goals, structure, and speakers of the session. These remarks will give an overview of how converging technologies are changing policymaking and norms-building and introduce the role of multistakeholder discussion for capacity building. - 25 minutes: Panel remarks led by the moderator asking direct questions about the capacity building challenges for governance of converging technologies, and how stakeholder groups are conceptualizing these challenges and their priorities. Panelists will have the opportunity to respond and pose questions to the other speakers to represent their perspectives. - 5 minutes: Transition and break to sort participants into break-out groups led by the speakers and moderators and to accommodate blended digital and in-person breakout groups. - 25 minutes: Multistakeholder break-out groups of 5-10 participants, guided by the speakers and moderators, will have a design thinking session on both policy and non-policy tools to address capacity building for governing converging technologies in the near term: the next five years. The design thinking methodology will guide the groups toward generating a large set of recommendations that will be captured for each group with digital tools. - 25 minutes: This part of the session will reconvene participants into a panel and discussion format. It will begin with the moderator posing a question to the panel about the roles of each stakeholder group in implementing these tools. Then, there will be open-ended discussion about opportunities and challenges to implement these tools in the near-term, leaving time for questions. Different perspectives and dialogue between speakers and participants will be encouraged. Facilitating Discussion and Online Participation: Participants will be informed at the beginning of the workshop that there will be time for questions in the final portion of the session so that they may prepare. The moderators will keep time during the session and ensure that each speaker has participated and prompt conversation between them. Breakout sessions will be available both in-person and online and allow for a hybrid format. The design thinking portion of the session will take place using online note-capturing tools so that both online and in-person members can contribute and will assist in capturing the recommendations for distribution. In the final part of the session, moderators will ensure to take questions from a diverse set of participants both online and in-person.