This past week, Project Liberty Institute was proud to participate in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Norway. We hosted a series of dynamic workshops, community events, and high-level discussions advancing digital infrastructure and data agency, focusing on the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), engaging hundreds of active participants.
Scaling the Digital Infrastructure for a Fair Data Economy
We kicked off with a public workshop on Data Agency: Scaling Next-Gen Digital Economy Infrastructure, featuring a lineup of leading voices: Jean Bertrand Azapmo, Wendy Seltzer, Sujith Nair, and Wesley Biggs. Facilitated by Sarah Nicole and Paul Fehlinger, the session unpacked key insights from the Fair Data Economy Task Force, delved into the governance of DSNP, and explored practical tools from our recently published digital infrastructure toolkit.
Continuing to build the DSNP Community Globally
Project Liberty Institute, steward of the DSNP, hosted the 2nd International DSNP Community-Building Event: Community Governance of Decentralized Social Protocols. Modeled on the first successful convening at RightsCon 2025 in Taiwan, the event brought together participants such as ICANN, Mastodon, Free Our Feeds, the Social Web Foundation, the University of Ottawa, OpenID Foundation, and the Digital Public Goods Alliance, fostering global dialogue on the future of decentralized governance.
Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure and Data Agency
Sarah Nicole delivered a lightning talk titled “What radical shifts do we need in AI infrastructures for an economy and society attentive and accountable to the people?”. This session, hosted by IT for Change, Association for Progressive Communications, and UNCTAD, spotlighted Project Liberty’s work on data cooperatives, our digital infrastructure toolkit, and the transformative potential of open protocols like DSNP. The panel included high-level speakers such as Abhishek Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and CEO, India AI Mission. Thomas Schneider, Swiss Ambassador, Vice-Director and Co-Director of International Relations (OFCOM) and Chair of CoE Committee on AI (CAI), and Jackie Si Tou, Economist at UNCTAD.
Connecting the Dots: People, Protocols, and Public Good
We also co-facilitated a workshop on Open Protocols and Public Interest Social Media at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), collaborating with the Digital Public Goods Alliance. The session deepened cross-sector coordination around public interest digital infrastructure, reinforcing our shared commitment to systems that serve people first.
These key messages will be central to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which will take place in two weeks in Switzerland. More to come.