EVENTS
10.27.2023
JCS was Responsible for Running Japan’s First Internet Governance Forum in Kyoto in 2023
The United Nations (UN) held the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Kyoto 2023 over 5 days from Sunday, October 8 to Friday, October 12. The IGF is an annual international forum convened by the UN for dialog on Internet issues. It was the first time to be held in Japan.
Attendance exceeded 9,200 from 178 countries, 92% of the total UN membership. Participants came from the public and private sectors, international organizations, tech and engineering communities, academia, and the public. More than 6,200 people visited the Kyoto International Conference Center during the IGF.
JCS was responsible for managing this Japan Debut forum. We also organized and managed over 40 interpreters to accommodate all six official languages of the UN (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish) and sign language to provide universal access to information. Our management of IGF Kyoto 2023 embodied diversity, equity, and inclusion for an international conference attended by individuals with diverse linguistic, disability, national, regional, and cultural needs and backgrounds.
Over 300 sessions and workshops for dialog on Internet issues
The IGF was established by the UN in 2005 to bring people together from various stakeholder groups, including the public and private sectors, technology, and academia, in discussions on digital public policy relating to the Internet. The theme for IGF Kyoto 2023 was “The Internet We Want—Empowering All People” under which debate occurred in some 300 sessions and workshops on every conceivable Internet issue.
At the Opening Ceremony on Monday, October 9, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appeared in a video message, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a welcome address in person. The opening attraction at the main venue featured projection mapping, which showcased traditional Japanese kabuki and omotenashi (spirit of hospitality).
Concurrent exhibition: IGF Village
More than 70 Japanese and foreign companies and organizations exhibited at the concurrently held IGF Village exhibition, showcasing the latest technologies and governance activities related to the Internet.
Omotenashi in Japanese culture
IGF Village offered visitors a taste of traditional Japanese culture in the kimono and tea ceremony areas. At the kimono booth, guests could choose from an array of traditional kimonos and have their picture taken in the adjacent photo booth. During the tea ceremony, tea was prepared in Ryurei style (tea master seated on a chair instead of kneeling on the floor) and served to guests with a seasonal sweet. These Japanese cultural areas were a hit with foreign visitors who queued up to experience them.
At the Welcome Reception during the forum, Kyoto Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki gave a toast. Other manifestations of traditional Japanese culture to entertain the many foreign visitors included a Japanese drum performance and fireworks launched from the adjacent Takaragaike Pond.
The IGF staple, Music Night, also occurred with songs and performances by talented participants and people dancing to DJ music.
Each attendee received a Japanese-patterned congress bag, which was sewn in Kyoto and made entirely of Kyoto-produced Kyo-yuzen fabric, accented with a showy band of Chirimen crepe. The congress bag contained an IGF-logoed pen and tumbler, tourism leaflets of the host city Kyoto, a venue floor map, a memo pad, and a special IGF original designed Convention Pass, which gave the user free access to the Kyoto City Subway lines during the IGF.
Many attendees of IGF Kyoto 2023 were from foreign countries, which is a promising indication of recovery and further growth in inbound demand.
We would like to sincerely thank all participants and stakeholders of IGF Kyoto 2023.
JCS will continue to leverage our half century of international conference management expertise to make our client’s conference a success.
