AboutMembers LoginContact Us

ISOC Member Newsletter - April 2010

World Summit Youth Award newsletter out now

The latest issue of the World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) newsletter is available now.

The Internet Society is a partner of the WSA and is a proud sponsor of the WSA Youth Awards, held in conjunction with the main Awards.

AMS Project Update

Since the launch of the Internet Society’s Association Management System (AMS) on 17 November 2009, the new AMS Chapter Portal has seen logins from over 2700 unique individuals, 1100+ chapter-affiliated members, and 75 ISOC chapter officers from 54 ISOC chapters. Many of the individual members logging in have been indicating interest in Chapters, so Chapter officers please log into the portal regularly and check your “Review Applicants” page.

Drupal was selected in January by ISOC as the platform for Engagement (also for the isoc.org website revamp), and we are happy to report the larger Engagement project is now under way. A detailed Aptify/Drupal proof of concept began on 7 April, involving 15+ custom web services operating, based on a complex, real-world workflow. Results have been very positive so far, but the POC will not be complete until mid-May.

In March 2010, it was decided to change course slightly on the AMS/Engagement project. Prior to March, the first phase in 2010 was to be an outright replacement of the current AMS portal with a Drupal version. Now Phase One 2010 will be around a platform to support working groups (including SAML authentication), with this part of the project beginning in May.

Chapter Data Initiative

While more than a dozen chapters have indicated interest in this data-synchronisation program by sending in financial paperwork, only ten have so far uploaded data to us. Please send an email to ams-project@isoc.org with any questions around this initiative and we will endeavour to provide you with all the information you need to make this happen.

ISOC Chapter AMS-Engagement Advisory Committee (CAEAC)

Similar to the Chapter Steering Committee for AMS 2009, the CAEAC will assist ISOC with Chapter and membership requirements for the ongoing development of the ISOC AMS-engagement platform. The committee will also play a key role in communicating project updates to the Chapters as well as testing the Chapter and membership components of the Engagement platform. This group will also help us to pinpoint omissions and add missing features as we progress. New functionality and new modules in the engagement section will be previewed and tested by the group as they are developed and implemented. Our thanks in advance go to the chapter officers that have volunteered for this committee.

Please write with any AMS/Engagement related questions to ams-project@isoc.org.

INET Washington, D.C.: Connecting the Next Billion Internet Users

The INET Washington, D.C. conference brought together nearly 100 thought leaders from industry, government and academia on 29 April to explore the steps needed to connect the next billion people around the world to the Internet over the next decade, while ensuring the Internet remains an unprecedented platform for innovation. INET participants explored some the newest and most exciting developments in Internet-related policy and technology. Featured speakers at INET Washington, D.C. included:

• Don Brittingham, Verizon Wireless
• James Galvin, Afilias, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Technical Standards.
• Jon Peha, Chief Technology Officer, Federal Communications Commission
• Ken Silva, Verisign
• Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary Communications and Information, U.S. Department of Commerce

The conference, part of the Internet Society’s (ISOC) global series of regional INET conferences, is being organized in collaboration with the Internet Society’s Washington, D.C. Chapter. Platinum support for the event was provided by Afilias, an Internet Society Organization Member. Archive from the event will be available soon at the INET DC webpage.

Chapter update: Australia

Contributed by Holly Raiche

The Vice President of the Internet Society Australia Chapter, Narelle Clark, has been elected to the ISOC Board of Trustees. Congratulations Narelle http://www.isoc-au.org.au/Organisation/Dirs.html.

Our President, Tony Hill, was called to give evidence before a select committee of Parliament inquiring on Australian plans for our Natioal Broadband Network (NBN). There is a transcript of the evidence at: http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S12976.pdf. The evidence includes the following topics: role of ISOC and IETF, interaction of bandwidth and technology, why NBN as a fibre to the premises initiative should address Layer 3 issues, and why NBN should pay attention to he national implementation of IPv6. Our submission to that Committee is available on our website at http://www.isooc-au.org.au.

Our Executive Director attended the ISOC Regional Chapters Workshop and the 2 day INET conference in Hong Kong. We are also participating in forums with other user groups (the Australian Telecommunications User Group and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network) on users and the NBN.

Chapter update: Hong Kong

Contributed by Ka Ping Wong

Asia Pacific Regional IGF (12 – 18 June) – Building Vibrant Communities, Realizing Internet Possibilities

To complement and supplement the global IGF, a group of active participants, along with the OGCIO (Office of the Government Chief Information Officer), have come together to organize the first Asia Pacific Regional IGF in Hong Kong. This IGF will surely help open your eyes to the inner-workings of the Internet, in which you could discover the essence of e-Engagement, gain insights into emerging Internet trends, and understand the minds of digital natives. The event will consist of three parts:

• Asia Pacific IGF (14-16 June)
  The APrIGF Roundtable will bring together experts in the region and around the world from the civil society, private sector and public sector for an intensive discussion that should help shape the future of the IGF. The programme for the roundtable event emulates the IGF structure of discussing the Internet governance issues around Access, Openness, Security, Critical Internet Resources, and Diversity.
• Hong Kong IGF conference (17-18 June)
  The Hong Kong IGF Conference aims to introduce to the various stakeholders in Hong Kong, in particular NGOs and youth, the status of Internet governance and the global IGF.
• Youth IGF camp (12-14 June)
  The Youth IGF Camp is organized and led by young leaders. During the three-day (2 nights) forum, participants will role-play to represent different stakeholders in the society and interact with international experts in the field to discuss different social topics concerning the Internet.

For more details of APrIGF, please visit http://www.rigf.asia/

INET Asia Regional Conference, Hong Kong (13-14 April) There are multiple INET conference being held at different chapters with different focus every year. ISOC-HK was delighted to be the local host of INET for the Asia Pacific Region which was held successfully from 13-14 April, 2010 with a colocated ICT Expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. This year our theme is opportunities and challenges in the next generation Internet, which focus on issues about IPv6, security and privacy, Multilingualism, and SEO. Supported by the government official from OGCIO and with overseas speakers from different sectors and region, there were more than 280 delegates, making it the largest INET Asia conference ever. The highlights, videos and speakers’ presentation files will be posted up on our official website soon. If you are interested to know more, please visit http://www.inethk.asia.

Chapter update: Kolkata

Contributed by Anupam Agrawal

It has been brought to notice of Nasscom (the Association of IT&ITES Companies in India) that rogue elements are penetrating the various servers (both of public and private interest) through unsecured Wi-Fi networks to wreak havoc with internal and corporate security in the area around Kolkata. As a counter-measure, it was decided to organize an awareness programme to create consciousness about the need to secure Wi-Fi networks. In order to do so, NASSCOM organized a Seminar on 21 April, 2010, entitled “Ensure You are Not a Wi-Fi Criminal”. Mr. Niel Hirjee, Vice Chair Internet Society Kolkata Chapter, gave a practical demonstration of how easy it is for one to misuse unsecured Wi-Fi networks but also how easy it is to secure them. He also explained some important dos and don’ts. After that, Mr. Anupam Agrawal, Chair Internet Society Kolkata Chapter moderated a open house with panelists Nasscom and enforcement agencies.

Chapter update: Nigeria

Contributed by Giandomenico Massari

The ISOC Nigeria Chapter is continuing to implement the Earth Box/Growing Connection concept in Nigeria, in collaboration with the Nigerian Society of Engineers, NEPAD, and Rivers State government team. Discussions are ongoing with intending sponsors and stakeholders to help drive the project in the various locations chosen for the pilot project. A presentation has been developed and presented to intending stakeholders and sponsors to-be on the project. The team is working towards realizing the pilot project in June 2010.

At the same time we want merge this project (Agriculture and ICT) with the existing Jon Postel IT centers, which are spread across the country, to increase the use of those centers.

Experts Convene at INET San Francisco to Chart the Future of Internet Trust

A panel of leading Internet experts will explore key challenges facing critical Internet infrastructure and services, such as the Domain Name System and email, at the INET San Francisco conference at the San Francisco Hilton Hotel on 7 May 2010.

The conference, part of the Internet Society’s global series of regional INET conferences, is organized in conjunction with the San Francisco Bay Area Internet Society Chapter. The event follows the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco focused on Web-based technologies and services that face their own trust challenges.

“As an increasingly important part of how businesses and individuals communicate and collaborate, it is critical that the Internet provide a trusted, reliable channel for the information shared online today,” said Zaid Ali, President and Chairman San Francisco Bay chapter of the Internet Society. “INET San Francisco is a unique opportunity to gain insight into increasing the trustworthiness of systems such as domain names and email that people around the world rely on billions of times each day.”

Featured speakers at INET San Francisco include:

• Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of ICANN
• Daniel T Dreymann, President & Co-Founder of Goodmail Systems
• James Galvin, Afilias
• Alex Deacon, Verisign
• Jim Fenton, Cisco Systems
• Dave Crocker, Brandenburg InternetWorking
• Dave Lewis, Online Trust Alliance
• Lucy Lynch, Internet Society
• Stuart Staniford, FireEye

Speakers at the INET SF conference will address critical issues such as:

• How can we advance security in the Domain Name System (DNS)?
• How is email communication evolving to ensure end-to-end trust?
• How are businesses dealing with issues of trust?
• How can trust and confidence in the Internet become an integral part of its ongoing evolution

Registration is free but due to limited seating pre-registration is required by 30 April 2010. Refreshments and lunch will be provided with a cocktail event after the conclusion of the program.

About the San Francisco Bay area Internet Society
The San Francisco Bay area Internet Society (SFBAY-ISOC) chapter serves the San Francisco Bay Area including Silicon Valley by promoting the core values of the Internet Society. SFBay-ISOC members enjoy the connection and collaboration beyond our region to those from ISOC headquarters and Internet Society Chapters and members from over 80 countries around the world. SF-Bay ISOC officers regularly attend ICANN and IETF meetings around the world, keeping the SF-Bay area informed and extending your voice in Internet policy at both a local and global level.

INET Hong Kong: Opportunities and Challenges in the Next Generation Internet: IPv6, Security and Privacy, Multilingualism, and SEO

INET Hong Kong was held 13-14 April at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong SAR, China. This was the third INET in Asia (first for 2010), and is part of the Internet Society’s INET series of regional conferences. An ISOC Chapters workshop for East Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania and West Asia (partial) preceded the event on 12 April, with eight chapters participating.

Organised in collaboration with the ISOC’s Hong Kong Chapter, INET Hong Kong was inaugurated by Hon. Jeremy Godfrey, Government Chief Information Officer, Government of Hong Kong SAR. Platinum-level sponsorship of the event was provided by Afilias.

The conference was themed around “Opportunities and Challenges in the Next Generation Internet: IPv6, Security and Privacy, Multilingualism and SEO” and featured a mix of regional and international policy and technical experts, government, network operators, the private sector and civil society to discuss and deliberate the evolution of the Internet and some of the challenges and opportunities it has brought about. Panellists and contributors included high level representation from Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Japan, and USA.

Further details on INET Hong Kong are available at:
http://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/inet/10/hongkong.shtml

Chapter update: Liberia

Contributed by Charles Gaye

The Liberia Chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC-Liberia) is planning the following activities in June:

• Collaborate with AfriNIC to conduct LIR+IPV6 training in Liberia, 24-25 June.
  Venue: Stella Maris Polytechnic, Monrovia, Liberia
• Collaborate with AfNOG to conduct training in Unix System Administration track 0, 14-18 June.
  Venue: Stella Maris Polytechnic, Monrovia, Liberia

We shall also be conducting an awareness workshop for policy makers and stakeholders in June, on a date to be announced later.

Community Grants Programme: Project showcase

Project Title: Toolkit for the Dissemination of Cultural Heritage Online
Contributed by Christine Madsen, Great Britain (May 2009 grantee)

The Toolkit for the Dissemination of Cultural Heritage Online is a project that aims to help indigenous and underserved communities preserve and disseminate the textual foundations of their culture using digitization. Since receiving an award from ISOC in May of 2009, I have been working to create a rich and multi-lingual library of resources that will promote the creation of meaningful, well-designed and sustainable digitization programs by institutions supporting cultures whose textual artifacts are under threat from the political or natural environment.

Much of this work is based on and has been inspired by the success of digitization in the Himalayan region. A number of projects in the west – the Tibetan and Himalayan Library at UVa, the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre, and Digital Himalaya – have been building a strong online corpus from and about the Himalayan region almost a decade. In the last several years, digitization has taken off in the libraries and monasteries in these areas as well. I was fortunate to travel to Nepal and Northern India in November of 2009 and talk to the managers of some of these projects. I was delighted to see the diligence and creativity of the people on several projects who were making due with outdated equipment, frequent power cuts, and intermittent Internet connections.

One of the most prevalent issues, though, was data security. Few of the projects had backups of their files and several had lost large amounts of data in the past. The project managers were aware that the lack of backups was a problem, but needed reliable information about the best way to replicate and store their data. CDs were by far the most common medium for backups, but clearly made file management difficult.

My experiences in the field enabled me to understand firsthand the most pressing issues and to focus the content of the Toolkit accordingly. I am very pleased to be able to have this opportunity and to share my own expertise, but also to join these communities, allowing them to share their own knowledge.

Internet Society Confirms Members for 2010 PIR Board of Directors

WASHINGTON, D.C. and GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – 13 April 2010 – The Internet Society today announced that Erik Huizer, Amitabh Singhal, and Glenn Ricart have been appointed as members of the PIR Board of Directors. These individuals-each a leader in the global Internet community-will join the other members of the PIR Board in providing strategic vision and guidance for the .ORG top level domain and in influencing Internet policies to benefit the overall domain namespace.

Mr. Singhal was appointed to the PIR Board for his first term, while Mr. Huizer was reappointed for his second term. Each of these terms will begin at the mid-year 2010 PIR Board meeting and will run through mid-2013. Glenn Ricart was appointed to serve an additional year, effective at the end of his current term, to complete the term to be vacated 1 May by Kuo-Wei Wu, who was recently elected to the ICANN Board of Director

“I’m extremely pleased that PIR will benefit from Amitabh’s deep experience and will continue to draw from Erik’s and Glenn’s diverse expertise,” said Lynn St. Amour, president and chief executive officer of the Internet Society. “They will continue to position PIR as a leader among global top level domain registries and as a strong supporter of the noncommercial community.”

Mr. Erik Huizer is Scientific Director at the ICT division of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). He is also part-time professor of Internet applications at University of Utrecht. Huizer currently chairs the Dutch national IPv6 Task Force and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland (the .nl ccTLD registry). He is a co-founder and a member of the Advisory Board of the Internet Society Netherlands Chapter. He chairs the Board of Trustees of NLnet, a foundation that financially supports organizations and people that contribute to an open information society.

Mr. Amitabh Singhal has been a long-time leader in the Internet industry in India. He helped found and was the former president of the Internet Service Providers Association of India. He also helped found and served on the board and as CEO of the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI). He has extensive experience in shaping communications policies as a member of various governmental and industry committees, expert groups, and panels, such as the Prime Minister’s Groups on Telecom & IT, the Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee, and the IPv6 Implementation Task Force.

Mr. Glenn Ricart is president and CEO of National LambdaRail. He previously served as managing director of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Center for Advanced Research in San Jose, California and was executive vice president and CTO for Novell. He was also the co-founder and CTO of CenterBeam, and has served as the director of the Computer Science Center at the University of Maryland College Park, as a program manager at DARPA, and as the head of intramural research computer services at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Currently, the PIR Board of Directors is comprised of:

• Ms. Barbara Fraser, Cisco Systems, Inc. – Board Chair
• Mr. Maarten Botterman, GNKS Consult
• Mr. Erik Huizer, TNO-ICT
• Mr. Glenn Ricart, National LambdaRail
• Mr. Amitabh Singhal, Telxess Consulting Services and Vcon Services

Ms. Lynn St. Amour serves as liaison to the PIR Board in her capacity as president and CEO of the Internet Society.

For more information on .ORG, The Public Interest Registry, please visit www.pir.org.

About .ORG, The Public Interest Registry
Trusted across all ages, backgrounds and nationalities, .ORG is where people turn to find credible information, get involved, fund causes and support advocacy. .ORG, The Public Interest Registry, empowers the global noncommercial community to use the Internet more effectively and, concurrently, takes a leadership position among Internet stakeholders on domain name policies and related issues. The .ORG domain is the Internet’s third largest “generic” or non-country specific top-level domain with more than 7 million domain names registered worldwide. .ORG, The Public Interest Registry, was founded by the Internet Society in 2002. It is based in Reston, Virginia, USA.

About the Internet Society
The Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. ISOC is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet’s premier technical standards body. With offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. For more information see: http://InternetSociety.org

ghNOG and ISOC Ghana Successfully organize Second E0 Localization Workshop and Meeting

Contributed by Vera Doku

The Ghana Network Operators’ Group (ghNOG) and the Internet Society, Ghana Chapter have successfully organized the second ghNOG workshop and meeting dubbed ghNOG-2.

The four-day workshop on UNIX Systems Administration was a result of the Internet Society and AfNOG’s localization initiative of the track to the country level to help develop local capacity. The workshop was attended by 24 participants, who were from various backgrounds, such as financial institutions, Internet Service Providers, academia, non-profit, and government organizations.

The workshop instructors were all volunteers with varied backgrounds and alumni of AfNOG workshops. The ghNOG workshops are scheduled to be organized twice every year. The University of Education, Winneba has been selected to host the next workshop, which will take place during the last week of July.

After the workshop, a one-day meeting, which was attended by 50 participants, was held under the theme, “Towards an Enhanced Internet Infrastructure”. The Meeting was officially opened by, Honourable Gideon Quarcoo, the Deputy Minister of communication of the Republic of Ghana. In his opening keynote address, the Deputy Minister challenged the workshop participants to take up the mantle and fight for the emancipation of Ghana and Africa from the poor state of technology. Prof. Nii Quaynor, Chairman of ISOC Ghana and convener of AfNOG in his opening remarks also called on participants to work together as a community to make technology affordable for the people. Dr. Osei Dankwa, President of Ghana Telecom University and host of the event, who chaired the opening ceremony, further challenged participants to bring their collective efforts to improve the Ghana Internet statistics, which is still abysmally low.

A panel discussion chaired by Prof Quaynor on the recent proposal from the International Telecom Union (ITU) to become a 6th Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for IPv6 in trust for developing countries was organized during the meeting. Panelists were generally of the view that for Africa, AfriNIC was doing a good job and there was no need for another Registry to assign IPv6. The discussants, who were telecommunication and academic network operators, ISPs, as well as from user community and regulators also underscored the fact that the AfriNIC policy development model for allocation of IPv6 was a bottom-up approach and was very satisfactory. Mr. Joshua Peprah, the National Communication Authority (NCA) Ghana’s Director of Licensing and Regulation, who is also advisor to the ITU BDT Director, responsible for implementing the ITU proposal, said he has been made aware of AfriNIC’s role as the regional Internet registry (RIR) and would advise the ITU BDT Director during consultations and added that many of the proponents of this proposal did not know about the operations of AfriNIC. It was also noted during the panel discussion that several African countries had been allocated IPv6 numbers, so AfriNIC is not short of IP resources. The real problem for Africa and other developing countries is the uptake of these resources.

There were updates from different Internet stakeholders including, that on the WIMAX licensing regime by the NCA and the different submarine fiber companies that were already in Ghana or would soon be coming into the country.

The day ended with a ghNOG meeting, where issues concerning the operators were discussed and participants who attended the Workshop were given certificates of attendance.

The workshop was made possible by the kind support of Internet Society Global, AfNOG, and NSRC who provided for books for participants.

Photographs from the Workshop can be found at http://ghnog2.jalbum.net

Photographs from the GhNOG 2 Meeting can be found at http://ghnogmeet.jalbum.net

About ghNOG
The Ghana Network Operators’ Group (ghNOG) is a forum for sharing technical information amongst technical operators of Internet services in Ghana.

ISOC Member Newsletter. Suggestions, comments, and questions welcome to, newsletter@isoc.org

ISOC's key initiatives target the critical issues that affect all aspects of Internet development and growth. They embody ISOC's philosophy that the Internet is for everyone and they provide the organization with a solid foundation from which to positively influence standards development, access, business practices, and government policies.