'RIPE 75' Meeting reflects the trust of the international community

The ‘RIPE 75’ meeting, hosted by the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) kicked off on Sunday, with participation from leading local, regional and international players in telecoms and information and communications technology (ICT), including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn, Nokia, Deutsche Telekom, Netflix, Orange, Omantel, OGEROTelecom, Kuwait Telecom Company VIVA, du, and Etisalat.

The meeting represents a major step towards supporting UAE’s relentless efforts to create an integrated infrastructure aimed at positioning the country as a global leader in Electronic/Smart Transformation Index by 2021. This was demonstrated by the UAE telecom operator "du", the official connectivity sponsor, providing the meeting and the attendees with Internet connectivity using the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

RIPE is a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet.

The RIPE 75 Meeting, which will take place until October 26, 2017 in Dubai, has gained strategic importance as a leading forum that brings together industry leaders, experts, governments, international players in ICT, and some of the world’s leading Internet service and content providers. The participants will deliberate about the state of the Internet and the effective policies applied by RIPE Network Coordinating Centre in the allocation of Internet numbering resources. The leading international event includes discussions, debates, and expanded meetings for exchanging and sharing expertise regarding international policies and best practices in developing the Internet in the UAE, Middle East and worldwide.

Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director-General, TRA, said: "Hosting the RIPE 75 Meeting reflects the profound trust of the regional and international community in the UAE which has succeeded to establish the sector on par with the most advanced countries in ICT indices, following the directives of our wise leadership."

"We appreciate RIPE NCC role in supporting the telecommunications sector as one of the most vital sectors in sustainable development. The ninth goal of the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals indicates that investment in basic infrastructure including transport, irrigation, energy and information and communication technology is a vital component in sustainable development and empowerment of societies in many countries.'' '' It has long been recognised that growth in productivity and income and improvement of health and education outcomes require investment in basic infrastructure. One of the goals of this activity is to significantly increase access to information and communication technologies and to seek comprehensive and affordable access to the internet in developing countries by 2020. RIPE NCC is in a very strategic position to support economic and social development in the region," Al Mansoori added.

Saleem Al Blooshi, Chief Infrastructure Officer at du, said: "We are proud to partner with RIPE and provide state of the art IPv6 connectivity and infrastructure for the RIPE 75. du is putting in place next-generation infrastructure across the UAE in the knowledge that a robust network will carry the economy forward and ahead of the rest. It is necessary to maintain the sustainable, long-term development of technologies such as 5G, smart cities and the Internet of Things. du’s strategic investments aim to future-proof the nation and to exceed the expectations of the UAE leadership."

Hans Petter Holen, RIPE Chair, said: "The high-profile regional and international participation at RIPE 75 reflects the great interest in this international meeting being held in the Middle East to discuss Internet protocols, information systems and network operation. We were delighted to choose Dubai as the host for this series of discussions, meetings and RIPE Working Group sessions, organized by the TRA to address pertinent issues that support the efforts aimed at developing the Internet number resource allocation and assignment policies and enhance the networks efficiency. These activities are aimed at meeting current and future needs in line with smart and digital transformation at the national, regional and international levels."

"The first day’s sessions have met our expectations, as the event unfolded to become ideal platform to explore new opportunities to further develop the ICT infrastructure, to support the strategic directions towards building strong economies based on knowledge, innovation and technology. We are looking forward to the discussions scheduled in the coming days, which will play a key role in strengthening communication between the leading players in the global Internet sector, to develop frameworks that cope with the rapid developments in the regional and international landscape."

The agenda of RIPE 75 features Plenary and Working Groups on address policy, anti-abuse, connect, cooperation, database, IPv6, measurement, analysis and tools (MAT), open source, RIPE NCC Services, DNS and routers, as well as IoT session, tutorials and workshops.