Since 2015
History and Past Editions
The founding editions of the Asia Pacific School on Internet Governance, 2016 to 2020 — who taught, who attended, and what each cohort went on to do.
The Asia Pacific School on Internet Governance ran its first week-long school in Bangkok in September 2016. These pages record the founding editions — who taught, who attended, where they met, and what each cohort went on to do. They are reconstructed from APSIG’s own published record.
Four in-person editions, 2016–2019 — all in Thailand, three at the Asian Institute of Technology and one at the Sukosol Hotel.
Approximately 33 distinct economies took part across the four years.
A fifth edition in 2020 was planned for Kathmandu and delivered virtually in November.
Origins
Schools on Internet Governance began in Europe in 2007, followed through the 2010s by Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East and Adjoining Countries. In Asia Pacific, a shorter format — the Asia Pacific Internet Leadership Program — had run since 2011, compressing to a single day by 2014 even as schools elsewhere expanded to four, five and six days.
The proposal for a full week-long Asia Pacific school was developed in September 2015 by a team led by Professor Kilnam Chon. The apsig.asia domain was registered and the site launched that same month, which APSIG counts as its inception. Initial fundraising opened in the last quarter of 2015, and the first APSIG course was held the following September.
An APSIG Facilitator Group was established to run the first edition, electing Jungbae An as its first chair in January 2016. The Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok was selected as the 2016 venue in March of that year.
Reach by year
| Year | Economies | Participating economies | Onward fellowships |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 20 | Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States | 15 fellows to inSIG, 5 to pkSIG |
| 2017 | 21 | Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, Vanuatu | 6 to the IGF — 3 on Amazon fellowships (Australia, India, Nepal), 3 on APSIG fellowships (Afghanistan, Nepal) |
| 2018 | 24 | Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United States | 3 to the IGF (Nepal, Tunisia, Mongolia) |
| 2019 | 14 | Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United States | 1 to the IGF (Pakistan), 1 to inSIG (via bdSIG) |
Counted without repetition, roughly 33 distinct economies took part between 2016 and 2019 — the basis for the figure APSIG cites today. In 2019 the cohort was drawn from fewer economies but in greater depth, with six participants from Bangladesh, five from China, and four each from India and Nepal.
The editions
- 2016 — BangkokAsian Institute of Technology, Conference Center B206 · 11–15 September · 39 people from 20 economies · 7 lecturers
- 2017 — BangkokSukosol Hotel · 22–26 July · 51 named alumni from 21 economies · 10 classes · the first All SIG Meeting
- 2018 — BangkokAsian Institute of Technology, Conference Center B108 · 8–12 July · 53 named alumni from 24 economies · 25 places from 138 applicants
- 2019 and 2020AIT Pathum Thani, 7–10 July 2019 · 34 participants from 14 economies · followed by the 2020 edition, planned for Kathmandu and delivered virtually in November
About this record
APSIG’s first site was hosted on Google Sites at sites.google.com/site/apsigasia. That site is no longer publicly reachable, and the annex sites that held the underlying reports and slide decks are behind the same barrier. The pages here were reconstructed in September 2026 from archived captures of the original site together with the two APSIG 2020 microsites.
Gaps in the record. Some material referenced by the original site has not yet been recovered — most notably the biographies for the 2018 lecturers, which were listed by name but never written, and the report and slide files held on the annex sites. Figures and rosters are reproduced as APSIG published them at the time; where the original record is internally inconsistent, the discrepancy is noted on the relevant page.
If you took part in any of these editions and can correct or complete an entry, please write to contact@apsig.asia.