LACNIC 41 Fellowship Program: Learning and Networking Opportunities

14/02/2024

By Paula Suárez, Communications Assistant at LACNIC

Every year, prior to its two annual events, LACNIC invites members of the community interested in participating in these meetings to apply for a fellowship to receive financial support. Through the fellowship program, beneficiaries have the opportunity to receive technical training, to participate in forums and conferences, as well as to interact and share experiences with their industry colleagues.

This exchange of experiences has allowed over 1700 program participants to improve their skills to tackle daily operations in their respective organizations and has also frequently contributed to their professional development.

Vitória Holanda and Henri Alves de Godoy received the fellowship to attend the LACNIC 40 LACNOG 2023 event. Both agree that technical training sessions are essential for advancing their professions. Furthermore, they noted that one of the main reasons they applied to the program was the opportunity to reconnect with former colleagues and meet industry professionals with whom they had previously only interacted via email or social networks.

This is one of the main goals of the program: to promote knowledge within the technical community as well as spaces for participation and networking. That is why fellows not only familiarize themselves with the organization, but also have the opportunity to engage in dialogue and exchange among themselves. After these meetings and their participation in the various activities included in the event agenda, fellows prepare reports working as a team, a task that favors cooperation among individuals of diverse origins and backgrounds.

The fellowship program promotes the creation of synergies between different actors to bring new perspectives into participation spaces. Therefore, the selection process considers that the group of fellows must represent the broadest possible diversity of sectors (Internet service providers, academia, civil society, governments, private sector) as well as gender and nationality diversity across the region.

The first edition of this program was launched for LACNIC 8 and, since then, it has supported more than 1700 participants from 23 different countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our next event will be held in Panama City, Panama, from 6-10 May and you can now apply for a fellowship. Click here for more information.