The Bangladesh Network Operators Group (bdNOG) holds a biannual conference focusing on the network operation of service providers (telco/ISP), enterprise networks (banks, universities, NGOs) and government institutes in Bangladesh. The event brings together ICT-based professionals to share operational experience and best practices, and provides training opportunities to help with Internet growth in the country.
A recently held bdNOG 3 conference was inaugurated by Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu, and attended by over 150 participants. The Internet Society Asia-Pacific Bureau maintains a strong partnership with bdNOG, and sponsors its meetings under our regional NOG support program.
bdNOG3 hosted presentations by the Bangladesh Internet Exchange (BDIX) chairman, the ISP Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) chairman, representatives from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Akamai, Cisco, Internet Society (ISOC) and the Asia-Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC). The week-long gathering also held technical workshops on advanced routing and BGP, IP telephony, Linux system administration and network security.
Speakers at the event called for the recognition of Internet access as a fundamental right, viewing this as essential to building a poverty-free economy. Just as importantly, they noted that access to the Internet needs to be secure for it to contribute towards a developed and modern Bangladesh. At the same time, they also recognized the need for more engagements between local and foreign technical communities, to provide local engineers with the opportunity to acquire advanced knowledge on topics around Internet operations and deployment. ISOC APAC Bureau staff presented on their work, programs and engagements in Asia-Pacific, inviting participants to join hands to keep the Internet open, secure and accessible. The Internet Society Bangladesh Dhaka Chapter was also a key partner at this conference, with chapter officers presenting on IPv6 status in Bangladesh and also contributed as instructor for one of the workshops.
bdNOG plans to establish a fund to support local professionals and engineers in attending international events such as Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and Asia-Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies (APRICOT).
At the event, APNIC also announced that APNIC 42 conference scheduled for September 2016 will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.