The Internet Society Asia-Pacific Bureau team had a productive and action-packed week at the annual APRICOT conference held in Fukuoka, Japan. The Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies (APRICOT) is a premier summit that brings together the regional Internet technical community to share and learn from their peers and experts from the region and beyond.
APRICOT 2015 included the 39th meetings of the Asia-Pacific Advanced Network (APAN), Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) and annual general meetings of the Asia-Pacific Internet Association (APIA), Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Forum (APTLD) and AP* (APStar).
The Bureau has a long-term partnership with APRICOT and proudly sponsors its fellowship program, providing financial support for individuals from developing economies to attend the event, exchange ideas and take their learnings back home.
Engagement activities for the team started with Amelia Yeo, ISOC’s Senior Manager for Partnership Development, providing an update on ISOC’s activities at the APTLD meeting. This was followed by Rajnesh Singh, ISOC’s Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, co-chairing the AP* retreat on Sunday. The AP Star retreat brings together organisations from the region to exchange information on their activities, achievements and future plans. It also included a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Regional IGF (APrIGF) Multistakeholder Group (MSG).
Diving into the conference week on Monday, the team held various meetings with regional Internet community leaders and organisations, with Rajnesh Singh addressing the TEIN4 meeting with proposed areas of cooperation. TEIN connects the European and Asian research and education communities. At the meeting of the recently formed APNIC Cooperation Special Interest Group, Naveed Haq, ISOC’s Chapter Development Manager for Asia-Pacific, emphasised the need for continued outreach and collaboration and offered the APAC Bureau’s assistance on issues and topics of mutual interest.
Tuesday saw the ISOC@APRICOT 2015 meeting with chapter leaders, members and observers. The Internet Society Japan chapter chaired the meeting and presented on their work. They also gave updates on the status of the transition to IPv6 in Japan. The Bureau gave an overview of ISOC chapters in Asia-Pacific, key engagements performed in 2014 and upcoming plans for this year. Chris Grundemann, Director of ISOC’s Deployment and Operationalization Department and the Deploy 360 program presented on key initiatives that are underway and how the technical community can get involved. This was followed by useful deliberations and questions around policy issues and member engagement. The meetings’ streaming audio and photoset have been made available for those seeking further information. Later that evening the Bureau attended a dinner hosted by the Indian delegation at APRICOT.
On Wednesday, Rajnesh Singh presented an overview of ISOC’s activities during the APNIC Global Updates session and held meetings with various parts of the community, including existing and proposed network operators’ groups (NOGs) in the region. Chris Grundemann and Andrei Robachevsky from ISOC’s Standards and Technology Department also held BoF session on IETF and Operators and BCOP. Later in the day, Bureau staff attended a ceremony for the late Dr. Masaki Hirabaru, an inductee of Internet Society’s Internet Hall of Fame. In the evening Bureau staff conducted video interviews with regional Internet pioneers and global connectors, including Professor Kilnam Chon and Dr. Jun Murai.
Thursday was a general outreach day for the Bureau team, meeting chapter leaders and staff of organisations such as APNIC and ICANN. During the week, the team met leaders from ISOC’s India Delhi, Australia, India Trivandrum, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Pacific Islands chapters, as well as a number of potential chapter promoters.
Friday presented further opportunities to discuss collaboration and cooperation with the regional community, particularly at the APNIC members’ meeting. A long, hard week in Fukuoka kept the Bureau staff busy with engagements, partnership development, speaking opportunities and networking sessions; showcasing our strong presence in the region and relationships with the regional Internet community.
The next APRICOT meeting will be held in Auckland, New Zealand, on February 16th to 26th 2016.