AfNOG-8 and AfriNIC-6: Meetings April 23-May 4, 2007

The African Network Operators' Group (AfNOG) and the African Network Information Centre (AfriNIC) are pleased to announce that the 8th AfNOG Meeting and the AfriNIC-6 Meeting will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, in April/May 2007.

This event would not be possible without the support of our sponsors.

About the Entire Event

AfNOG and AfriNIC are jointly organizing a two-week event that includes the AfNOG Workshop on Network Technology (offering advanced training in a week-long hands-on workshop), several full-day Advanced Tutorials, a one-day AfNOG Meeting, and a two-day AfriNIC Meeting.

In addition, several side meetings and workshops will be hosted in collaboration with other organizations such as the AAU and ISOC.

Additional information about the event may be found at http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/.

Timetable

AfNOG Workshop 23 - 27 April 2007 (Sunday - Friday)
AfriNIC IPV6 Workshop 28 - 29 April 2007 (Saturday - Sunday)
AfREN Meeting 28 - 29 April 2007 (Saturday - Sunday)
AfNOG Tutorials 29 - 30 April 2007 (Sunday - Monday)
AfriNIC LIR Workshop 30 April (Monday)
AfNOG Meeting 1 May 2007 (Tuesday)
AfriNIC-6 Meeting 2 - 3 May 2007 (Wednesday - Thursday)
INET Africa Day 4 May 2007 (Friday)

Venue

The Rockview Royale Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria will be the location for this year's AfNOG/AfriNIC joint meetings and workshop.

About AfNOG

AfNOG (see <http://www.afnog.org/>) is a forum for cooperation and the exchange of technical information between operators of Internet-connected networks in Africa. AfNOG has organized an event like this one every year since 2000.

About AfriNIC

AfriNIC (see <http://www.afrinic.net/>) is a Regional Internet Registry (RIR), responsible for Internet Number resources Mangement in the Africa region. AfriNIc organizes two Public Policy meetings every year (see < http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/>).

AfNOG Workshop on Network Technology

The AfNOG Workshop on Network Technology aims to offer advanced training to people who are in the process of developing and enhancing an Internet-connected network with regional and international connectivity. The target audience includes senior and mid-level technical staff of commercial Internet service providers (ISPs), academic networks, government networks, or NGO networks.

This workshop builds on the experience of previous AfNOG workshops held annually from 2000 to 2006 in seven different African countries, and also the Internet Society's INET workshops, held annually from 1993 to 2000 at eight locations around the world. The workshop's instructors are an international team with many years of experience operating large networks and teaching about network operations.

The workshop is divided into four parallel tracks:

  • Track E0 - Unix System Administration (in English), focused on using a Unix-like operating system as a platform for delivery of Internet services.
  • Track E1 - Scalable Internet Services (in English), focused on the design and operation of email, web, and other Internet services, in ways that can scale to handle large numbers of end users.
  • Track E2 - Scalable Network Infrastructure (in English), focused on the design and operation of networks using routers and switches, in ways that can scale to handle large numbers of interconnected sites.
  • Track F2 - Infrastructure Reseaux IP (en francais), similar to track E2, but given in French.

AfREN Meeting

The Africa Research and Education Networking community will be holding a two-day meeting on 28 and 29 April 2007. The meeting will discuss issues of interest to the NREN community such as coordination on activites in the region, advocacy, bandwidth consortia, regional RENs etc

AfNOG Tutorials

Beginining in 2007, AfNOG will offer 1 to 2 full-day(s) tutorials on advanced topics.

Tutorials take place in a classroom-style environment, and may include a hands-on practical component. Tutorials are non-commercial in nature, and most are technically oriented. They are intended to offer advanced training on technology already deployed or soon to be deployed on networking and related services provisioning for ISP operations.

People interested in presenting a tutorial are invited to submit a proposal, following the instructions at <http://www.afnog.org/2007/tutorial/>

8th AfNOG Meeting

The 8th AfNOG meeting will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, on
1 May 2007. AfNOG conferences provide a forum for the coordination and dissemination of technical information related to backbone/enterprise networking technologies and operational practices. The meetings are informal, with an emphasis on relevance to current and future African backbone engineering practices. The AfNOG 2006 conference in Kenya, Nairobi, drew over 135 participants, mainly consisting of network engineering staff from national service providers, and members of the research and education community.

People interested in making a presentation or chairing a panel discussion at the AfNOG meeting are invited to submit a proposal, following the instructions at <http://www.afnog.org/2007/conference/>

AfriNIC-6 Meeting

The AfriNIC-6 meeting will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, on 2 and 3 May 2007. This meeting is both a public policy meeting and an Annual General Member meeting. The public policy part of the meeting will include discussion of proposed policies on how AfriNIC should manage Internet Number resource in the region.

Further information is available at <http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/>.

ISOC Africa INET Conference

"The Internet Society will be organizing an INET Africa Conference on 4 May, 2007 in conjunction with the AfriNIC 5 and AfNOG 8 meetings in Abuja, Nigeria. This meeting will focus on technical as well as policy aspects surrounding Internet standards development and applications, with special attention to localisation and educational initiatives, and efforts to further internationalise the Internet. The meeting is also expected to continue, following on from INET Africa 2006, discussions on Internet governance issues of importance to the continent."

Travel, Entry and Visa Requirements

All ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) passport holders do not require a visa to enter Nigeria. For passport holders of non -ECOWAS Countries please contact the nearest Nigeria High Commission or Consulate for the necessary visa requirements.

Visitors must have a valid passport for at least six months beyond the end of the visit.

ECOWAS Member States

BENIN, BURKINA FASO, CAPE VERDE, COTE D'IVOIRE, GAMBIA, GHANA, GUINEA, GUINEA-BISSAU, LIBERIA, MALI, NIGER, NIGERIA, SENEGAL, SIERRA LEONE, TOGO.

Health

All visitors to Nigeria require Yellow Fever vaccination. For participants from non-malaria infested areas, please contact your doctor for advice on the appropriate anti-malaria drugs.

Arrival in Nigeria

Lagos

All AfNOG participants are strongly encouraged to schedule arrival in Abuja. For those who must transit through Lagos, you are advised to make connecting flight reservations with Virgin Nigeria (www.virginnigeria.com) or ARIK Airlines (www.arikair.com). These airlines have terminals at the International wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport; this will save participants the hussle of having to go to the Domestic Wing of the Airport.

In the event that you have to shuttle to the Domestic Wing of the Murtala International Airport to take a connecting flight to Abuja, you should engage only the services of registered airport taxi drivers. Cost of taxi ride from the International Wing to the Domestic wing is about N3000.00.

For assistance with travel from Lagos to Abuja, please contact Abdulhakeem Ajijola + 234 805 624 7007

Abuja

Participants arriving at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja should engage the services of the Abuja Green Cabs (these are dark green Peugeot 307) or registered airport taxis to the Rockview Hotel. To make arrangements for Airport shuttle to the Rockview Hotel, please contact the following:

Rockview Hotel + 234 9 4130041 - 50, 4130093 - 102, 4130168 - 75

Sekyen Niyang  + 234 - 803 291 0000

Samson         + 234 - 806 - 537 - 4373