Daily Recap: 29 November 2013
The saying goes, “Time flies when we are having fun”, and that’s exactly what happened this week. Friday the 29th arrived and it was the last day of AFRINIC-19 in Abidjan Cote D’Ivoire. AFRINIC-19 was attended by over 200 delegates, coming from 27 different countries. Over 3000 remote participants and a good engagement level on our social media platforms, with Flickr views going up to 60,000 views.
Corporate Update
The day started with the usual AFRINIC corporate update, with presentations from Adiel Akplogan, followed by Patrick Deesse for the Financial Update. Badru Ntege gave the board update, informing the community that AFRINIC’s relocation was currently under discussion. Anne Rachel Inne wrapped up the session with the Communications and PR update, as the acting head of the department.
Services Update
AFRINIC Public Policy meetings have multiple purposes, one of them being AFRINIC staff updating the community on our activities and the progress made. Arthur N’Guessan, Head of Member Services gave a status report on the department in general while Madhvi Gokool, Registration Services Manager’s presentation focused on member recruitment and Internet Number Resources Management for 2013.
Neriah Sossou, Head of IT and Engineering gave the Infrastructure update, giving an overview of our current network and the tasks in progress to enhance it, as well as to improve service delivery.
Africa Internet Summit 2014: Djibouti
As is customary at the end of each AFRINIC meeting, the local hosts of the next meeting deliver a presentation on the host country. Djamad Doualeh Mohamed, PR Manager of Djibouti Telecom gave an overview of Djibouti, the local host and reasons why to attend the meeting. After the presentation, she managed to convince us all to pack our suitcase for Djibouti in May 2014 for AIS’14.
Closing Ceremony
And then came the moment, the closing ceremony. Officiated by Adiel Akplogan, AFRINIC CEO with the AFRINIC Board. Adiel thanked the community once again for their support and presence and thanked the AFRINIC staff for all the hard work into making AFRINIC-19 a success.
That’s a wrap, see you all in Djibouti, May 2014 for the Africa Internet Summit!
Daily Recap: 28 November 2013
Thursday the 28th marked the official Opening Ceremony of AFRINIC-19 in Abidjan. The day started with the Newcomer’s session, chaired by Anne Rachel Inne, Chief Operations Officer, AFRINIC. Anne Rachel gave an overview of AFRINIC, our mission, our role and a purpose in the Internet ecosystem.
Official Opening
AFRINIC-19 was officially opened by the Honourable Bruno Nabagne Kone, Minister of Posts and ICT of Cote D’Ivoire. In his speech to the packed plenary room, Mr. Kone welcomed AFRINIC and stressed on the importance of the meeting. He stated that AFRINIC in Cote D’Ivoire is an important milestone for the Ivorian ICT landscape and that there were high expectations for the meeting.
Adiel Akplogan, AFRINIC CEO reaffirmed AFRINIC’s commitment to our mandate, emphasizing our support and presence in francophone Africa. Badru Ntege, Chair of the AFRINIC Board stressed on the importance of the Internet, the importance of IPv6 deployment for a common objective, a resilient and sustainable Africa.
Global Updates
The opening ceremony was followed by the Global Updates, by our sister organisations, APNIC, ARIN, LANIC, RIPE NCC, IANA, ICANN, with the NRO/ASO update. This session has been implemented in all meetings and gives the regional audience insight on what is happening globally in the RIR world. 
AFRINIC and RIPE NCC MoU
AFRINIC and RIPE_NCC signed on the 28 November an MoU on 3 specific projects:
1. The distribution of RIPE Atlas probes
2. The installation of 10 Atlas anchor
3. The installation of an Atlas anchor within #AFRINIC's infrastructure
This MoU reaffirms AFRINIC's and RIPE NCC's engagement in the promotion of Internet development in our respective regions.
Presentations
Presentations were then given by Mireille Houndji and Michuki Mwangi, on Content creation and the History of the Internet respectively. Mireille’s presentation was a very interesting one, detailing the importance of content creation as a knowledge base and foundation of the sector, which brought about vibrant reactions from the audience which led to show how a there are currently many initiatives
for good content creation.
Michuki’s presentation, about the history of Internet in Africa depicted the Internet infographics by ISOC, which documented all the important milestones of Internet’s history.
Policy Development Process
Only one policy was discussed at AFRINIC-19, the Academic IPv4 Allocation, policy, authored by Andrew Alston and Sunday Folayan. After discussions, oppositions and comments, the policy did not reach consensus and was returned to the mailing list, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to be re-discussed in Djibouti.
ASO election
Fiona Asonga was re-elected as the ASO representative for a new mandate. Fiona was running in the election against Hago Dafalla and Chris Thsimanga Kamukoko.
AFRINIC-19 Gala dinner
The AFRINIC Gala Dinner was a soiree of glitz and glamour and one to remember. The event took place at the Wafou Hotel, overlooking the gorgeous Ivorian Laguna. Traditional dancers welcomed delegates to the sound of drums in a torch lit garden where delegates enjoyed cocktails and balafon music. Dinner, made of delectable Ivorian specialties was served in the beautiful tiered dining room. Delegates enjoyed the food, music and danced the night away. We really hope everyone had a blast and will take those precious memories with them in their suitcases!
Daily Recap: 27 November 2013
Wednesday, the 5th day of AFRINIC-19 was governed by Cyber Security. The Africa Computer Emergency Response Team, AfricaCERT held the AfricaCERT day. Panel discussions from a wide array of Cyber Security issues were lined up for the day.
AfricaCERT Day
The AfricaCERT Day was officially launched by Dr. Nii Quaynor, who needs no introduction. In his address to the assistance, Dr. Nii stressed on the need for cooperation and collaboration to promote Cyber Security in Africa. He explained that AfricaCERT is the response to the promotion of Cyber Security in Africa.
The morning sessions focused mainly on reports and updates, with the 2013 AfricaCERT report by Jean Robert, AfriRegister & AfricaCERT: Partnership for a common Agenda by Mouhamet Diop, An introduction to KISA – Korean Internet and Security Agency by Jinsook Kim and a presentation on the AfricaCERT Membership Model Jacques Houngbo, among others.
The afternoon sessions focused mainly on case study presentations, on how some African countries are fighting Cyber Criminality. Colonel Francois Ouedraogo gave us insight on how cyber criminality is handled in Burkina Faso, Abraham Cisse and Papa Gueye talked about the situation in Senegal while the CI-CERT gave an overview of the Ivorian cyber crime fighting process. 
Let’s now take a mid week break from sessions to take a look at some impressions of AFRINIC-19 delegates!
“The RPKI training proved to be excellent, and for us, from the CI-CERT, this came at an ideal moment as we have been tasked by the regulator, the ARTCI to work on implementing RPKI here. We have learned that AFRINIC can help us with this and that’s great news”, Tanoh Jacques, CI-CERT, from Cote D’Ivoire.
“I very much enjoyed the DNS Anycast session, especially with its practical component. I learned a lot of interesting and helpful things. I actually manage the servers at the Omar Bongo University and today, during the practical exercises we realised that there were some shortcomings to the DNS server and now I can use what I have learnt here to improve on my job”, Priscille Njamen Tchuigoua, AFRINIC-19 Fellow from Gabon.
“Brice Abba is an excellent trainer and all the IPv6 courses have been very interesting and helpful. Being a network engineer, I now feel ready to implement an IPv6 network. We also learnt about IP address planning and this is crucial in our area of work”, Christian Rodrigue Koffi, LYAM Expertis, Cote D’Ivoire.
“My first day was tiring but exciting; it started with a hectic flight from Lagos to Accra to Abidjan schedule. The airport pickup was really helpful. Julie, Event Coordinator got me into the meeting seamlessly by connecting me with Brice, Fellow mentor. Brice helped me find my way around, hotel accommodation and sessions to join. I attended the AfricaCERT training at Ibis. It was a training session conducted in English; I found the class resourceful to my pursuit. I learnt a lot about Cyber Security. The meeting has been incredibly fulfilling. The cocktail party was a wonderful and cozy opportunity to interact with other participants.
Second day, I joined the Internet Governance and I found the session useful, my knowledge base IG issues has very much improved improved.”, Benjamin Akinmoyeje, AFRINIC-19 Fellow, Nigeria
For updates, stay connected to us through our social media platforms:
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https://twitter.com/AFRINIC19
https://twitter.com/AFRINIC
http://www.linkedin.com/company/afrinic/
For more pictures please visit: www.flickr.com/photos/afrinic/
Stay tuned for more...
Daily Recap: 26 November 2013
The 3rd edition of the Africa Operator’s – AfOPs Day was held yesterday. 3 back to back panels were scheduled; IPv6, Infrastructure and Internet Access and Connectivity. The panels were followed by individual presentations on Cyber Security, ICT updates in Chad and a Best Common Operations Practice BoF.
IPv6 Session
The AfOPs kicked off with the IPv6 session. Ahmed Sako, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Posts and Information and Communication Technology gave a presentation on the National IPv6 Deployment project of Cote D’Ivoire, its set-up, working sessions and evaluation. He was followed by Jan Zorz who spoke about the RIPE 501 and 554 publications, guides to IPv6 deployment and all you need to know equipment-wise for the migration.
AFRINIC Infrastructure
The second panel, an internal AFRINIC update was focused on AFRINIC’s infrastructure. Alain Aina, Special Project Manager and Nishal Goburdhan, Senior Project Manager gave presentations on RPKI and DNSSEC services evolution and IXP Support Initiatives & DNS Programmes respectively. The highly technical presentations were appreciated by an informed audience.
For more information on AFRINIC’s infrastructure please click here: http://www.afrinic.net/en/services
Internet Access and Connectivity
The 3rd session started with a presentation on “A WiMAX solution for an efficient public administration”, by Valentin Boubebe from ANINF, Gabon who talked about the pilot project’s implementation in Gabon. Jan Zorz took the mic again, this time to talk about Best Current 
Operational Practice (BCOP) - updates and results from around the world. After his presentation Jan called for volunteers for the BCOP BoF and his request was met with great enthusiasm, which led to an interesting BoF at the end of the session.
Emile Aben from the RIPE NCC presented the RIPE Atlas Project – Measuring the Internet. Emile gave an in-depth analysis of how RIPE Atlas works and why the Internet should in fact be measured. He also gave a demonstration with the measuring device, an Atlas Probe. For any additional information of Atlas Probes, you can find Emile’s presentation here or you can always have a chat with him or Nishal.
After the panels, Benoit Morel presented on “The Cyber threat: the most complex threat against modern societies” followed by a presentation by Zaki Sabit of HTCE, Chad on Chad ICT Updates. Zaki gave an interesting overview of the current ICT landscape and some of the major progress that has been made namely opening of the market, training sessions for network engineers and many more.
AfricaCERT
The third training day, CSIRT training for technical staff: advanced network monitoring. Moving from the broad view of incident handling, participants went deep into using one specific tool to manage their work within the CSIRT. Packet capture, traffic reconstruction, understanding conversion between hosts and acting accordingly. Participants had to strongly refer to their knowledge of TCP/IP. The day also gave opportunity to listen to visitors from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA).
FIRE Programme Workshop
The 2 day FIRE Programme Workshop cam to an end yesterday. The two-day workshop covered a range of topics relevant to grant proposal writing as well as a session on how to apply for FIRE grants and awards. The workshop has been video recorded, as a free webinar and will be uploaded on the FIRE and AFRINIC websites as well as AFRINIC's YouTube channel.
For updates, stay connected to us through our social media platforms:
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https://twitter.com/AFRINIC19
https://twitter.com/AFRINIC
http://www.linkedin.com/company/afrinic/
For more pictures please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/afrinic/
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Daily Recap: 25 November 2013
Akwaba to Abidjan!
Welcome to AFRINIC – 19.
After two days of training sessions and tutorials, Monday began with the panel discussions of the week.
Internet Governance
The Internet Governance panel opened to a full house and comprised of 4 presentations. Ibrahima Guimba Seidou of SES started with his presentation on “Connecting Africa - how satellite can help social and economic development”. He was followed by Koffi Fabrice Djossou, who updated the community on the Dot Africa top level domain launch Strategy. Yves Miezan Ezo of SMILE – CI gave an interesting presentation entitled “L’Afrique à l'heure de l'économie de la connaissance », after which Adiel Akplogan wrapped up the session with a presentation on the recent International/Regional challenges faced by Internet Governance among which the Montevideo statement, the /1net dialogue and how to engage all stakeholders in Internet Governance discussions. Among the important issues raised were:
- How to connect the 300-700 million Africans unconnected (satellite, fiber, cost effective solutions)
- How to be active/independent actors of the e-economy via libre software?
- How do we prepare the African region to plan for WSIS+10 and the new sustainable development goals going forward.
Not all the questions got answered and we encourage continued discussions at for example national and regional IGF among other fora to put Africa back on the IG map. Some information about organisations in IG can be found here: http://www.afrinic.net/en/community/ig
AfGWG
The AFRINIC Government Working group (AFGWG) met for its 8th edition. 3 presentations were delivered to an open audience, by Adiel Akplogan, CEO AFRINIC, Ernest Byaruhanga, Policy Liaison Manager, AFRINIC and Jean Robert Hountomey of AfricaCERT. They talked about AFRINIC and the reasoning behind establishing the AfGWG, the AFRINIC Policy Development Process and the Role of AfricaCERT in the regional Internet ecosystem respectively.
The AFGWG was established to help the Government community come with specific questions to the rest of the community and establish an ongoing dialogue on Internet public policy issues. Apart from the biannual face to face meetings, there is a mailing list specific to the group where discussions take place.
Cyber Security
Internet security is one of this year's hot topics. It was a subject debated at the recent IGF in Bali. AFRINIC plays a leading role in strengthening and promoting Internet security In Africa. We encourage DNSSEC deployment in the region and offer DNSSEC training courses to our members and the community. AFRINIC also manages and publishes Reverse DNS (rDNS) zone data for the IP space it allocates or assigns to members. We also promote the use of RPKI – Certification throughout the region to further increase the security of Internet infrastructure (http://www.afrinic.net/en/initiatives?Name=Value). Our presenters today talked about the various components of Cyber Security and its importance.
Valdez Nzalli gave insightful presentations on Internet penetration in Africa and privacy issues related to the Internet. Stephane Konan concluded the Cybersecurity session with a presentation on detailing a platform dedicated to fighting cyber criminality in Cote D’Ivoire.
In addition, our sponsors, MTN and Amanah gave presentations on the MTN Foundation and The Spirit of Entrepreneurship respectively, to conclude the day.
Trainings
IPv6 for Managers
While parallel with the plenary, the training sessions continued with one on IPv6 for Managers, conducted by Hisham Ibrahim, our IPV6 programme manager. The session always aims at closing helping business executives evaluate IPv6 strategically as well as support their technical people in deploying it. The AFRINIC IPv6 programme information can be found here: http://www.afrinic.net/en/services/ipv6-programme
AfricaCERT
“Having succeeded yesterday during the first training sessions and having their CSIRT fully operational, participants went today through technical issues. They got prepared to communicate with each other in confidence by using PGP. They browsed topics like Internet threats, Malware types, Hacking techniques, Underground economy mechanisms”, explained Jacques Houngbo, AfricaCERT Trainer.
On the technical level, incident handling security tools are of importance, reason why a large part of the day was devoted to it. Participants shared knowledge about the large variety of tools they were using each. The spectrum is quite large and not every tool fit all needs and circumstances.
Although participants were more conversant with technical issues, this was an opportunity for them to sense the legal dimensions of their activities at CSIRT. Law enforcement, compliance with regulation, protection of critical infrastructure and acting for national security, all this can sometimes balance with individual privacy or with the extent of damage some bad acts are having on business. More information on AfricaCERT is available here: http://www.africacert.org/home/
FIRE programme
The Fund for Internet Research and Education (FIRE) Programme is hosting a grant proposal writing workshop in Abidjan from the 25th until the 26th of November 2013. The FIRE Programme has selected 15 attendees located in six Francophone and Lusophone countries to receive additional support for capacity development to improve the quality of project proposals presented to potential donors, sponsors, or investors.
The first day, the participants were introduced to the FIRE programme’s Grants application system. They were afterwards trained on various ways and methods to express their Project Problem, solution and Methodology. The famous 5 Ws and an H (What?, Whom ?, Where ?, Why ?, When? and How?) were considered as the stepping stone to start the session.
AFRINIC Welcome Cocktail…Good times…
The Welcome Cocktail, sponsored by MTN was a great opportunity for the delegates to unwind and have a good time by the pool. Everyone had a chance to relax at the end of a busy and successful first day during the cocktail.
Special thanks to our Sponsor MTN Cote D’Ivoire.
For updates, stay connected to us through our social media platforms:
https://www.facebook.com/afrinic
https://twitter.com/AFRINIC19
https://twitter.com/AFRINIC
http://www.linkedin.com/company/afrinic/
For more picture please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
Stay tuned for more...