Lacnog @ Tical
31/08/2016
LACNOG is the community of technical contacts for IP networks in Latin America and The Caribbean. LACNOG is effective in fostering discussions among diverse networks as long as they’re able to properly represent all the needs and sectors involved in the Internet. As other Network Operator Groups, their value is in the diversity of experiences from different actors.
The creation of co-located Lacnog events, aims to promote a space for knowledge and collaboration for technical people in other established communities, where it’s possible to share experiences, exchange knowledge, promote initiatives, understand tendencies and address common issues, among others.
The first Lacnog @ Tical experience will be held in Buenos Aires with Universities participating at TICAL2016. TICAL is the annual meeting of Directors of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) of Latin American universities.
There is often the misconception that network operator is a synonym of ISPs: in fact, Universities are “network operators” with an important experience in campus networks administration and the implementation of new technologies. As such, the know-how acquired in operational aspects of IPv6, multicast, Wi-Fi, virtualization, data centers and other technologies is a key value to be shared with the rest of the operators community.
In order to further engage Universities and Academia in LACNOG, a workshop for network operators from Universities is being planned for the upcoming Tical event in Buenos Aires. RedCLARA promoted TICAL, the Network of ICT Directors from Latin American universities. The creation of this ICT community, established a first working space, to be expanded and consolidated through the organisation of annual TICAL conferences since 2011.
It will be the first experience for a Lacnog meeting co-organized with a major community. We trust that bringing operational experiences to the Tical meeting will provide value to the well established community of ICT Directors and at the same time, LACNOG participation will be promoted and increased with additional diversity.
The workshop is co-organized with RedCLARA’s technical forum, CLARA-TEC. The forum is led by the Technical Commission and its working groups. The technical working groups in RedCLARA are headed by engineers from member institutions. They coordinate the functioning of these groups in eight relevant areas, aiming to help the Latin-American National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) to deploy the most outstanding applications and new technologies for the benefits of their countries. CLARA-TEC and its working groups have supported, expanded and achieved significant Internet developments for Latin American education and research institutions.
The active participation of Directors and technical staff from different countries, makes it possible to discuss situations in universities across the region. The format of the workshop will encourage practical discussions, project planning, and case studies to promote new projects. Will serve both as a brainstorming exercise to address known issues and an incubator for new projects.
TICAL and LACNOG also opens up the possibility of making connections between institutions, thus promoting the creation of collaboration links in order to make the most of the synergies in the group.
At the workshop, Universities will share their experiences in hosting IXPs, installing CDNs, supporting community networks and helping their local Internet ecosystems. Those interactions and lesson learnt among universities, will result in increased collaboration, more efficient local Internet services and an augmented and improved LACNOG community.