From the outside looking in?

An informal dialogue on standard-setting, stakeholder inclusion, and power dynamics

Wednesday, 9th July 2025, 12:00–14:00 CEST

For details email cade@diplomacy.edu

Background

As the international digital governance landscape continues to evolve, questions around inclusion, legitimacy, and coordination in standard-setting and multistakeholder processes have become increasingly pressing. CSOs often find themselves “on the outside looking in”–observing processes shaped by technical bodies, governments, and private sector actors, yet not always effectively participating in them. Recent research by CADE (https://cadeproject.org/cade-report-baseline-study/) has mapped a number of standard-setting bodies relevant to digital governance and produced preliminary recommendations aimed at enhancing inclusiveness, transparency, and effectiveness. The time is ripe to engage stakeholders in a dialogue on these findings and next steps. This side-event is designed to spark open, constructive exchanges among CSOs and other stakeholders to strengthen participation in standard-setting bodies, in a relaxed setting.

Objectives

A. Reflections on standard-setting organisations (SSOs)

  • Feedback to CADE’s mapping of SSOs and its preliminary recommendations for structural change
  • What are some concrete steps that could be taken to enable more inclusive and accountable standard-setting?

B. Dialogue across sectors

  • What skills or mindsets could different stakeholders cultivate to foster better engagement, and improve mutual understanding and collaboration?

Participation

This is an informal roundtable-style discussion, where all participants are invited to share reflections, insights, and lived experiences. There will be no formal presentations – the emphasis is on dialogue and exchange. For registration, send name and affiliation to cade@diplomacy.edu by Monday, 7th July 2025, COB.