The GIG-ARTS (Global Internet Governance Actors, Regulations, Transactions and Strategies) conference is a European annual multidisciplinary academic venue to present and discuss developments in Global Internet Governance (GIG) and their implications in and beyond this field of research. It is one of the outcomes of the GIG-ARTS project.
The GIG-ARTS conference aims to complement and bridge between existing venues, such as established International or European disciplinary conferences in the social sciences (e.g. IAMCR, ICA, ISA, IPSA, ECPR, EISA, … general conferences), where GIG scholars sometimes find their interdisciplinary research marginalized in terms of issues, areas and disciplines; or such as in the only venue specialized in GIG so far (the Annual GigaNet Symposium), organized as a pre-event of the UN annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) since 2006, making it difficult to both focus on European developments and accommodate a larger academic community than the one that is used to participating in IGF proceedings.
The GIG-ARTS conference objectives are threefold: (1) to foster the enlargement and diversification of this academic community in order to increase its visibility; (2) to open more opportunities to young scholars, particularly from Europe and its neighbourhood; and (3) to anchor its discussions in the European context, providing a space where the scholarly community can address regional challenges and contribute to regional discussions.
Each year, the GIG-ARTS conference highlights a main theme. In addition to keynote speeches and academic presentations and discussions, at least one roundtable will feature a debate with practitioners around that theme.

The First GIG-ARTS Conference (GIG-ARTS 2017) was held in Paris in 2017 on the theme: “Global Internet Governance as a Diplomacy Issue”, with Meryem Marzouki as general chair.

The Second GIG-ARTS Conference (GIG-ARTS 2018) was held in Cardiff in 2018 on the theme: "Overcoming Inequalities in Internet Governance - framing digital policy capacity building strategies", with Andrea Calderaro as general chair.

The Third GIG-ARTS Conference (GIG-ARTS 2019) was held in Salerno in 2019 on the theme: "Europe as a Global Player
in Internet Governance", with Francesco Amoretti and Mauro Santaniello as general chairs.

The Fourth GIG-ARTS Conference (GIG-ARTS 2020) was to be held in Vienna in 2020 on the theme: "Online Information Governance – More Expression, Less Freedom?", with Meryem Marzouki and Katharine Sarikakis as general chairs. Due to the Covid19 outbreak, this edition was cancelled and replaced by compensation measures.

The Fifth GIG-ARTS Conference (GIG-ARTS 2021), initially set to be held in Vienna in 2021, on the same theme and with the same chairs as GIG-ARTS 2020, as part of the compensation measures after the cancellation of GIG-ARTS 2020. With the continuation of the pandemics in 2021, the sanitary situation led to the cancellation of GIG-ARTS 2021.

Back on track in 2022 ! The Sixth GIG-ARTS Conference (GIG-ARTS 2022) was held in Nicosia in 2022 on the theme: "Global Internet Governance and International Human Rights - Whose Rights, Whose Interpretations?", with, as co-chairs, Konstantinos Kouroupis, Meryem Marzouki, Katharine Sarikakis, and, as junior chair, Martin Fertmann.

The Seventh GIG-ARTS Conference (GIG-ARTS 2023) was held in Padova in 2023 on the theme: "The Governance of Cybersecurity: Resilience, Human Rights and Democracy, with, as co-chairs, Joanna Kulesza, Meryem Marzouki, and Maria Stella Righettini.

The Eighth GIG-ARTS Conference (GIG-ARTS 2024) will be held in The Hague in 2024 on the theme: "30 Years of Multistakeholderism in Internet Governance - Assessments and Prospects, with, as co-chairs, Jan Aart Scholte and Tatiana Tropina.

This 2024 edition marks the transition of the GIG-ARTS coordinator role from Meryem Marzouki, who established this initiative in 2015 and steered the organization of seven editions of the conference between 2017 and 2023, to Mauro Santaniello, who gladly accepted to take over this task for the years to come.

New GIG-ARTS website address is: https://gig-arts.eu/