My name is Ka Rohasim, a fresh graduate from the Department of Media and Communication at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. During my college years, I joined various extracurriculars and ran several projects that covered a variety of topics, including art, leadership, and the environment. After I volunteered at Earth Hour Cambodia, I co-founded a youth group called Youth Earth and implemented two digital campaigns that advocated for wildlife conservation and climate action. These campaigns were finished with great success. In addition to this work, I was also a content creator at a production house, where I created digital content and campaigns for businesses.

It is obvious that I have a background in the internet as well as digital landscapes. Therefore, I would love to design my future career path to be in this area. I am passionate about digital communication and project management. I understand that I need to be well aware of the internet and digital framework in order to build these professions. Thus, I see the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will fill those values in me for capacity building.

This year, I am delighted and honored to receive financial support from Open Development Cambodia (ODC) to attend the 18th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum hosted by the Government of Japan in Kyoto from October 8 to 12.

There are a few approaches to applying for financial support from ODC. In my case, I had to complete a few steps in my application. First of all, I had to register to be a member of the Cambodia ICT and Digital Forum (CamIDF). Therefore, I completed an online registration and got approval for the membership, which meant I was eligible to apply for the grant support. I then completed another application that required me to give some answers regarding the IGF and create at least five topics related to the forum’s theme to discuss with other CamIDF members. My topics were the internet I want, data visualization, how the internet and digital landscapes contribute to environmental activism, the roles of youth in accelerating digital technology for the SDGs, and fake news.

The main theme of this year’s IGF is The Internet We Want - Empowering All People, followed by many sub-themes. I understand that there are many leaders and policymakers who will come and share information related to the theme of the forum. As a digital communicator and environmental advocate, I look forward to the sub-themes of Global Digital Governance & Cooperation, Cybersecurity, Cybercrime & Online Safety as well as Sustainability & Environment, as I expect they will contribute to my future career as well as my advocacy; and hope I will be able to make relevant reflections regarding these causes and contribute to the framework through the three main approaches in the CamIDF. In addition to the main theme, I think it is essential for Cambodia's new data protection law, which is now under discussion. I am thrilled to draw a conclusion on the "Internet We Want" and bring it to the policy dialogue for a more effective policy and a clearer future law.

There are nearly 400 sessions in this year’s forum. I have marked some sessions, such as Leadership Panel, IGF 2023 Global Youth Summit, Internet Society’s Collaborative Leadership Exchange (CLX), Climate Change and Technology Implementation, Green and Digital Transitions: Towards a Sustainable Future, as well as Internet Fragmentation: Perspective & Collaboration, as I believe relate to my background and interests.

Apart from this, I strongly believe that IGF will be a place where I get to connect with other participants and stakeholders around the world, especially innovators. I see myself as a user who is supposed to provide feedback regarding the internet we want, and I hope that after fruitful conversations, I will be able to perform better in the framework and innovators will get more ideas for their next inventions.

What makes this year’s IGF extra exciting is that it is held in Japan, the country that I always want to visit. I will take this opportunity to explore more about Japan, and I hope I can bring its amazing values to my home country.

Finally, I would love to express my appreciation to Open Development Cambodia for giving me this amazing opportunity. I look forward to bringing everything I got from this forum to the table, where I am excited to share it with everybody, especially CamIDF members. Likewise, I am more than happy to share more details about the application process for applying for the grant support. Hence, never hesitate to reach out to me.