Two short talks delivered by

Philip Smith and Steve Song

(Network Startup Resource Center, University of Oregon, USA)

will address the human development of the Internet through the communities of Network Operator Groups around the world, followed by an exploration of the physical cartography of the Internet. The second talk will highlight the need for greater transparency of open data to make the Internet more available and affordable, including improved access to global scientific communities, remote scientific instruments, and shared data resources.

ABSTRACTS

P. Smith: NOGs and their impacts on Internet infrastructure development

Network Operator Groups have had a profound impact on the growth of the global Internet since the mid 1990s. Early this century saw the formation of more and more regional and country NOGs, as more operations communities realised the benefit that collaboration, knowledge sharing, and training brings. The talk looks at the history of the network operator groups, and discusses some of the impacts of the NOG phenomenon of this century

S. Song: Internet Infrastructure and Open Data

Public availability of information about internet infrastructure is extremely variable, as is the quality of that information. Governments and commercial investors are unable to make informed decisions on investment in internet infrastructure in underserved regions without access to holistic, standards-based information about internet infrastructure. Open data standards can ensure that information gathered on internet networks will be comparable, aggregatable, accessible, reusable, and conform to commonly agreed upon definitions of access.