IETF News

Pilot IETF Fellowship Programme for Regulators Sets Solid Groundwork for Future

By: Markus Kummer

Date: June 6, 2012

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As part of a pilot IETF Fellowship Programme for Regulators—a collaboration between the Internet Society’s Public Policy and Internet Leadership departments—five representatives from telecommunication regulatory authorities in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal were invited to IETF 83 in Paris, France, where they had the opportunity to learn about the IETF and to experience first hand its unique model of standards development.

The programme was a great success for all parties involved. It enabled the participants, who are already experienced in standards development processes, to exchange views with IETF leadership and the Internet Society Board of Trustees, and to network with experts from the Internet technical community in the spirit of collaboration. Their main interests included finding concrete solutions to reduce the price of Internet connectivity in their regions and expanding network access in rural areas. In addition, the programme enabled the IETF leadership to gain a better understanding of the concerns and priorities in developing countries.
The Internet Society plans to build on this pilot by granting fellowships to participants from regulatory authorities, enabling them to attend future IETF meetings. To start, fellowships to IETF 84 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, will be provided to engineers from the Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin American regions.
photograph of attendees
From left to right: Lambert Bouo, Agence des Télécommunications de Côte d’Ivoire; Sally Wentworth, Internet Society; Josephine Adou, Agence des Télécommunications de Côte d’Ivoire; Markus Kummer, Internet Society; Aline N’Dakon, Agence des Télécommunications de Côte d’Ivoire; Pauline Tsafak, Ministère des Postes et Télécoms du Cameroun; Seyni Faty, Agence de Régulation des Télécommunications et des Postes, Senegal; Nicolas Seidler, Internet Society.