Creation of the LACNIC Technical Forum Announced

31/10/2017

LACNIC has announced the creation of the LACNIC Technical Forum, the first edition of which is set to take place during the May event in Panama. This new forum will unify the work of the Security Forum (LACSEC), the Interconnection Forum (formerly NAPLA) and the IPv6 Forum.

The LACNIC Technical Forum will be managed by a program committee made up by eight members who will be in charge of selecting the papers to be presented at the event. The program committee will include three representatives elected by the community, three LACNIC staff members, and two representatives appointed by LACNOG.

This unification is part of the positive evolution of the existing forums and will allow the community to focus on a single, major technical event, observed Carlos Martínez, LACNIC CTO.

Until now, LACNIC has always hosted three technical forums during its annual May event. The Security Forum chaired by Fernando Gont, the Interconnection Forum chaired by Fabián Mejía, and the IPv6 Forum chaired by Azael Fernández Alcántara.

This evolution of the model means the three will be unified under the new proposal. Organizing three separate events created certain difficulties: three calls for papers with different deadlines and time lines, managing multiple agendas, and a heavy workload for a single person responsible for reviewing and approving papers (the chairs of each forum).

In addition, the topics currently being discussed and analyzed are much more interrelated than they were approximately ten years ago when the separate forums were created, Martinez added.

Their unification means that only one call for proposals will be necessary, although the three discussion lists will remain separate.

The program committee will be responsible for the administrative role of moderating the Technical Forum. The three current forum chairs will continue to serve as the first community representatives on this body until May 2018. After this date, the representatives elected by the community will be renewed on a rotating basis.

As for the length of the agenda, the LACNIC Technical Forum will maintain the same number of hours at each May event.

Martinez said that the new proposal seeks to enrich discussions and cover a broader range of issues, as well as to simplify application mechanisms, unify channels, deadlines and the interaction with the sponsorship program.