[menog] RIPE NCC Dubai Regional Office in Operation - One Year Later

[Hisham Ibrahim]

Dear Colleagues,

The sun is about to set on our first year here in the Dubai office. Our team of four, supported by our colleagues in Amsterdam, has been busy trying to meet the needs of the technical community and our members in the Middle East. I will try to summarize some of the key engagements we were busy with in the following lines.

* Community Engagement

Member Lunches

We felt that we needed to get even closer to our members to better understand the needs of its members in a particular country, and provide feedback on how to improve our services accordingly. To that end we organised a series of member lunches, conducted on a small scale, to act as unofficial focus groups on RIPE NCC services.

The RIPE NCC has conducted successful member lunches in Iran, Saudi Arabia and has plans to do the same in Turkey, Kuwait and Lebanon this year.


National IPv6 Working Groups

With the explosion of Internet of Thing (IoT), smart government initiatives as well as 3G/4G mobile applications the move to IPv6 makes it easier to conduct realistic plans and infrastructure upgrades that support the future. We have been working with a number of regulators and Internet service providers in the region that have realized the opportunities IPv6 offers. 

We are currently working with the TRA of the UAE and the country’s two ISPs/mobile providers to form an IPv6 National Working Group in UAE. The RIPE NCC also intends to do the same in Lebanon.


We also continue to support the Saudi IPv6 task force with IPv6 roadshow workshops and presenting at their bi-annual meetings.


Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs)

Cyber threats and protection have become of great importance to all LEAs in the region. The RIPE NCC has been working with Arab LEAs through several meetings and LEA workshops, including a meeting with Middle Eastern LEAs at the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France. The RIPE NCC also organised and participated in conferences and workshops for the cyber police in Jordan and Iran.



Academic Engagement

The RIPE NCC opened up the RIPE Academic Cooperation Initiative (RACI) to MENOG Meetings, ensuring that one dedicated RACI candidate from the region will be chosen to attend each RIPE Meeting.

RACI received a total of 30 applications from the region. Of these, three were selected to present at MENOG in Dubai and two to present at RIPE 70 in Amsterdam. 



Engagement in Yemen

The RIPE NCC introduced itself to the Yemeni technical community and service providers through two site visits in 2014. Following these visits, the RIPE NCC designed two workshops dedicated to the needs of the local technical community and delivered them in Jordan.


Policy Development Process (PDP) Translation 

The RIPE NCC publishes monthly PDP updates in Arabic and English, to support increased engagement and participation in the PDP from members in the Middle East region. 


** Capacity Building

IPv6 Roadshows

The three-day IPv6 Roadshow workshop provides network operators and administrators with the information, documentation and hands-on experience they need to deploy IPv6.

This year, the RIPE NCC added a new track to the roadshow portfolio - “IPv6 for Enterprise” which caters to the needs of non-ISP network operators wanting to deploy IPv6. The RIPE NCC also added a new mobile lab, dedicated to the Middle East, as a resource base for more roadshows and workshops.

The RIPE NCC has successfully conducted five roadshows in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan (dedicated for Yemen Service providers) and the United Arab Emirates. Upcoming roadshow destinations include Lebanon and the UAE.

http://www.menog.org/ipv6-roadshow/ <http://www.menog.org/ipv6-roadshow/>
 

Train the Trainer Initiative

The RIPE NCC launched a “Train the Trainer” initiative at the offices of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE in Dubai.  The initiative is a long-term goal of the RIPE NCC and is designed to train and build a diverse pool of skilled local trainers capable of delivering the IPv6 Roadshow in the Arab region. The launch attracted 15 trainees from the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Palestine, drawn from the public, private and academic sectors.

https://www.ripe.net/publications/news/about-ripe-ncc-and-ripe/uae-tra-centre-of-innovation-organises-train-the-trainer-initiative-in-cooperation-with-the-ripe-ncc <https://www.ripe.net/publications/news/about-ripe-ncc-and-ripe/uae-tra-centre-of-innovation-organises-train-the-trainer-initiative-in-cooperation-with-the-ripe-ncc>
 

***Regional Meetings 

Regional Meeting in Iran (18 November 2014)

Iran is the RIPE NCC’s second-largest membership base in the Middle East. The RIPE NCC held a successful Regional Meeting in Tehran in 2014, attended by around 270 participants from the technical, governmental and academic sectors, where the local participants expressed interest in hosting a future MENOG Meeting.

https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/regional-meetings/ripe-ncc-regional-meeting-tehran <https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/regional-meetings/ripe-ncc-regional-meeting-tehran>
 

MENOG 15 (28 March – 2 April 2015)

MENOG 15 took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). This edition included two days of plenary presentations (incorporating the RIPE NCC Regional Meeting) and four days of hands-on technical workshops. The conference attracted 195 attendees from 32 countries, and 35 trainees took part in the two workshops (Advanced Routing and DNS/DNSSEC).

http://www.menog.org/meetings/menog-15/ <http://www.menog.org/meetings/menog-15/>
 

Other Meetings

The RIPE NCC participated in and presented at a number of events and initiatives across the Middle East, including:

- ASREN’s e-AGE meeting

- Saudi’s IPv6 National Forum

- The Middle East School on Internet Governance

- ITU Plenipotentiary Conference

- SAMENA’s Cable Submarine Summit

- SDNOG (The Sudanese Network Operator Group) 


We look forward to continue working with the technical community and the other stakeholders in the region. It has been a very fruitful year and we look forward to much more to come in the upcoming years.

We thank you all for your support and ask you to continue guiding us to better support our region. 

Kind Regards

Hisham Ibrahim

Regional Programme Manager

RIPE NCC
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