LACNIC Creates Original New Training Center for the Latin American and Caribbean Community

17/12/2013

An initiative that will centralize and manage the wide and varied offering of training courses, workshops and seminars presented by the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC) staff almost on a daily basis in various countries of the region and around the world and which have allowed training almost 9000 people during the past ten years. The LACNIC Training Center is a tool that will allow consolidating the training opportunities available to the region’s professional community on relevant topics and will include new instruments aimed at promoting Internet development, such as online training.

Monica Baez, who is in charge of training at LACNIC, told LACNIC News that this project will begin operating in 2014 and will cater to the Latin American and Caribbean community’s increasing demands for training on different topics related to Internet development. The goal is to provide training to the largest possible audience, making it easier for everyone to participate in these activities. To do so, the LACNIC Campus will be created, a virtual space that will add e-learning to the organization’s existing training offers.

The following is a summary of the most relevant issues discussed during our interview with the head of LACNIC’s Training Center.

What is the LACNIC Training Center?

The LACNIC Training Center (TC) is in charge of developing, managing and implementing the training options our organization offers on topics relevant to Internet development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Training Center’s short term goal is to systematize and organize the training activities offered by LACNIC, to improve the way they are managed, and to include online training tools.

Why is the Center being created?

LACNIC has a diverse offering of training courses on relevant topics, designed with the region’s needs in mind –IPv6, CSIRTs, DNSSEC and RPKI, among others– and takes advantage of LACNIC’s highly qualified staff to provide training both on-demand well as during LACNIC meetings (tutorials).

This offering, however, has not been systematized and it is not easily accessible. In addition, the technical resources who provide the training have limited time and they do not specialize in training or education.

On the other hand, there is a growing need to reach new stakeholders so that they that can receive the basic knowledge needed to deploy and operate networks in our region.

For all of these reasons, LACNIC’s training offering needs to be professionalized and expanded so that we can better satisfy the training needs and demands detected by the organization.

Specifically, there are certain new projects that will require rapid capacity building (CertiV6), for which reason providing new online training opportunities must be implemented.

What are the goals of the LACNIC Training Center?

This project seeks to contribute to Internet development within the region through an active training strategy that will promote an environment that allows the Internet to become an effective instrument of social inclusion as well as cultural and economic development for all the countries and citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean.

It will also attempt to generate, deploy and develop regional capabilities for the permanent strengthening of a secure, stable, open and growing Internet. By providing training and education opportunities, the Center will try to drive the adoption of new technologies and Internet standards.

Specifically, the Training Center will implement training activities using the most appropriate methodology on a case-by-case basis (in person, online or blended learning) so that we can better cater to different audiences and provide various levels of knowledge – creating awareness, basic training, and hands-on training.

Another important task involves planning and constantly reviewing LACNIC’s strategy for implementing a structured, systematized and ongoing training offering.

To achieve this, we need to design, propose and implement the training model that LACNIC will use for the courses offered through its e-learning platform.

Another key task consists of identifying the content that LACNIC needs to prioritize according to the needs of the various target audiences.

The Center will provide methodological support for the design and creation of content to be used during in-person, online and blended training activities. In addition, the Center will help identify the tools needed to implement LACNIC’s training program and will manage the production of audiovisual and graphic content to support our various training activities.

Finally, we will redesign and update the content of our training website and create and manage LACNIC’s virtual campus, including a training content repository.

Approximately how many people have received training?

During the past eleven years, LACNIC has provided training to approximately 9000 people throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, on topics that are critical to Internet development, security and stability in the region. In 2013 alone, LACNIC deployed the organization’s experts and provided training to more than 1200 individuals on topics relating to IPv6, IXPs, security, RPKI, IP telephony, wireless networks, and network management, among others.

What forms of learning will LACNIC use during 2014?

In addition to the in-person training activities that LACNIC has traditionally offered, new forms of learning will be made available in 2014, including e-learning and blended learning.

What is the LACNIC Campus and how will it work?

LACNIC Campus is the virtual space that will allow adding e-learning to the organization’s existing training offering.

The Campus will reach a broader, geographically diverse audience and provide training on topics that are relevant to Internet development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through this platform, we will offer training on topics such as IPv6, CertiV6, CSIRTs, secure routing, DNS and DNSSEC.

What is the purpose of creating video tutorials? Who will be able to use them?
Our goals are to help LACNIC members, to reduce response times, and to make available a new, readily accessible method for finding answers to frequently asked questions. The following video tutorials are being developed:

• How can I recover my password?
• I forgot my username
• Delegating reverse DNS resolution
• Registering a sub-assignment
• Creating a userID
• Modifying my organization’s points of contact
• How to use WHOIS
• Online Payment System
• RPKI System