On 17 July 2025, Diplo and the Geneva Internet Platform welcomed a group of students from the Beijing Institute of Technology for a day-long course on ‘Governing the digital age: AI, internet, and digital transformation’.
In today’s interconnected world, the internet, artificial intelligence (AI), and other digital technologies are reshaping economies, societies, and global power dynamics. While these technologies offer potential to support sustainable development, they also raise complex governance challenges that span national borders and touch on competition, security, and sociocultural issues, among others. The one-day course enabled participants to examine the evolving landscape of internet and digital governance, focusing on key international processes and institutions.
The course also included a simulation exercise, allowing students to put themselves in the shoes of various stakeholders (governments, international organisations, private sector, and civil society) and develop and negotiate over a set of actions aimed at ensuring that AI can enable prosperity for everyone.
Agenda
09:00 – 09:30 | Welcome and overview of the day
09:30 – 10:15 | How does the internet function?
10:15 – 11:00 | What do we talk about when we talk about internet and digital governance? (Key issues on the global agenda and dedicated international processes)
11:00 – 11:30 | Coffee break
11:30 – 12:15 | How does AI work?
12:15 – 13:00 | AI governance and policy
13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch
14:00 – 15:30 | Hands-on exercise: Digital governance in practice
15:30 – 16:00 | Coffee break
16:00 – 17:30 | AI tools for digital transformation
17:30 – 18:00 | Conclusions and takeaways
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