Strengthening Technical Communities: The Value of In-Person NOG Workshops
29/07/2025
For over three years, LACNIC, LACNOG, and ICANN have been promoting an active agenda of in-person technical workshops in various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, in coordination with national Network Operator Groups (NOGs). The main goal of these initiatives is to better understand local operational realities, share strategic knowledge, and foster the construction of robust technical communities in each country.
NOG workshops are spaces created by and for operators, where participants address specific technical challenges, share best practices, and promote direct exchanges among those who keep the regional Internet running.
The Case of Medellín: An Active and Highly Technical Community
A recent example of this effort was the workshop titled “DNS, Interconnection, and Secure Network Operation” held in Medellín on 26 and 27 June in collaboration with NOG Colombia, NAP Colombia, LACNIC, LACNOG, and ICANN. More than 50 network operators actively participated in two full days of training, labs, and technical discussions.
This workshop was characterized by a highly specialized audience comprised of professionals experienced in daily network operations. Participation was intense both in the theoretical sessions and in the hands-on labs, and this resulted in highly enriching technical discussions.
A Space for Direct Engagement with the Technical Community
One of the most valuable aspects of these in-person meetings is the opportunity to interact directly with operators and learn firsthand about their concerns, operational challenges, and the current issues faced by their networks. For organizations such as LACNIC, LACNOG, and even ICANN, this kind of interaction allows tailoring technical content and approaches specifically to the needs of those who manage the Internet across the region on a daily basis.
Additionally, these in-person workshops complement annual events such as LACNIC or LACNOG, helping them extend their reach to communities that are not always able to travel, while fostering more frequent and closer contact with local technical stakeholders.
Technical Content with a Practical Focus
The workshop covered topics essential to Internet security and stability, including:
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- DNS and DNSSEC, with a hands-on lab exploring zone signing and response validation.
- RPKI, IRR, and MANRS, with discussions on best practices for BGP route validation and filtering.
- A route hijacking mitigation lab, where operators configured their own routers to detect and prevent this type of attack.
- Peering and interconnection, including an analysis of traffic exchange models and the reality of local IXPs.
- And lastly, an introduction to LACNIC’s Policy Development Process (PDP), which generated great interest as this is the mechanism through which resource allocation and management rules are defined in the region.
Building Technical Community in Colombia
This workshop provided not only an opportunity for technical training but also a space to strengthen Colombia’s operator community. Collaboration among regional and international organizations shows the strategic value of continuing to invest in local capacity and building bridges between those who develop standards, policies, and best practices, and those who implement them in their real-world operations.
We will continue to work alongside national NOG communities to further strengthen these spaces, as we believe that a more secure and resilient Internet is built from the ground up, in direct collaboration with those who operate it.