The Middle East Network Operators Group (MENOG) announced the success of MENOG 1, which took place April 3 to 5.

MENOG 1, the first non-profit educational and operational forum held in Bahrain, represents a milestone for the Middle Eastern Internet community and marks the continued progress and co-operation in the region.

With over 80 participants from more than 15 countries within the region, MENOG 1 was the first collaborative and concentrated effort to create a long-standing initiative to encourage dialogue on the issues concerning the Internet industry in the Middle East.

A range of Internet organisations were involved in MENOG 1 including regional network operators, vendors, ISPs, technical groups and international non-profit membership organisations, such as the RIPE NCC.

"We are proud to have supported MENOG 1," said Paul Rendek, Head of Communications, RIPE NCC.

"This was a very important first step in establishing the MENOG as a valuable forum for regional co-operation, discussion of the key issues and tutorials on the latest technologies.

“As MENOG 1 has proven, the MENOG offers a unique way for participants to keep pace with global developments and to ensure the future stability of IP networking in the region."

“Currently, the Internet has become a new system that demands the strengthening of a more robust infrastructure, along with increasing the interconnection of the ISPs within our region,” outlined, Fahad AlShirawi, managing director, 2Connect, during the opening ceremony.

He added: Vendors and technical staff will only be able to face the upcoming challenges with adequate training and knowledge of new technologies. 

“By regionally implementing best practices, a significant incentive will be provided for the industry to harmonise technical activities in the context of ever evolving technology.”

The forum was sponsored by Internet organisations, including Cisco, CMU, 2Connect, DE-CIX, Etisalcom, Gateway Gulf, International Information Systems (IIS) and LINX. MENOG 1 featured presentations, tutorials and workshops held over three days.

The forum provided an excellent opportunity for the regional Internet community to network and share knowledge.

“In the long-term the MENOG meetings will play a key role in educating, training and bringing together technical staff from the region and will bring the network operators’ community closer to full integration with the global Internet industry,” ended AlShirawi.

To ensure the future development and growth of these meetings we should work together towards achieving the same goal

2Connect is a leading telecommunications service provider that offers an innovative portfolio of voice and data services that includes advanced internet and IP based solutions guaranteed by an independent state-of-the-art network, wireless technology and IT consulting support.

2Connect creates a new, energetic and dynamic LINK between its customers and the next generation of telecommunications services.

The RIPE NCC is an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation that supports the infrastructure of the Internet through technical co-ordination in its service region.

The most prominent activity of the RIPE NCC is to act as the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) providing global Internet resources and related services (IPv4, IPv6 and AS Number resources) to members in the RIPE NCC service region.

The membership consists mainly of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunication organisations and large corporations located in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia.

More information about the RIPE NCC is available at: ripe.net