On May 24, the 13th St. Petersburg Internet Conference (SPIC 2018) commenced in St. Petersburg. At the opening session, Director of Coordination Center for TLD RU Andrey Vorobyev spoke about regional youth initiatives in Internet governance and about involving students in the global agenda such as the Russian Internet Governance Forum (RIGF 2018) held in St. Petersburg in April.
Vorobyev shared the experience of attracting young specialists to Internet governance initiatives. On Day zero of RIGF 2018, the speakers delivered lectures at leading universities in St. Petersburg, which aroused great interest among the students. Now the Student Council of St. Petersburg is taking an active part in the formation of the Youth Council within the Coordination Center for TLD RU, an initiative first announced at RIGF 2018.
He invited young SPIC participants to join the Youth Council: “We have already received applications from students of technology and law schools in St. Petersburg, who decided they want to become more involved in Internet governance after participating in RIGF 2018. They will help draft agendas for these conferences, hold their own discussions as well as exchange their experience with their counterparts from other Russian regions and foreign countries. This is why we are setting up the Youth Council. This work will contribute to a more active involvement of young specialists in policymaking at the global level, as was announced at the 2016 Internet Governance Forum in Guadalajara.”
