UAE’s General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector (TRA) hosted IPv6 ‘Train the Trainer’ initiative at its office in Dubai in co-operation with RIPE NCC.

The initiative was created by RIPE NCC designed to train and build a diverse pool of highly skilled Arab trainers capable of delivering the RIPE NCC Training Courses and the IPv6 Road show workshops in that region.

The mGovernment Centre of Digital Innovation (CoDI), in co-ordination with RIPE NCC, is providing these training courses in order to develop the UAE ICT sector and build national competencies and nurture talents in this area.

The initiative is the first of its kind to be delivered by RIPE NCC in the Middle East.

It involves 15 trainees from four countries namely the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Palestine.

The trainees represented the public sector and private sector companies that provide communications services to end users in addition to a number of students from ICT specialised universities and colleges.

Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, TRA director general, said: “In fact, the transition towards IPv6 deployment is an urgent necessity given the growing rate of Internet services users in the UAE in addition to the importance of keeping up with the shift towards providing smart services through mobile devices.

“Training national talents to enable them to manage this transition and supervise its operations is a crucial strategic requirement that entails nurturing and promoting Emirati competencies in order to succeed in accomplishing this objective.”

Paul Rendek, director of external relations at the RIPE NCC, said: “We are enthusiastic about empowering the local community through the ‘Train The Trainers’ initiative, which comes within our strategic partnership with the TRA UAE. This step can translate into positive gains in the area of capacity and talent building.

“The interactive training course provides the Arab candidates with a unique opportunity to become professional trainers, providing local and regional trainings for organisations and supporting real knowledge exchange for IPv6 deployment in the Middle East region. This will ensure that knowledge exchange happens by locals for locals.”

The training sessions were moderated by a RIPE specialised training team with extensive expertise in the field of the IPv4-IPv6 Transition and deployment, while the training candidates were selected based on their CVs, scientific and academic qualifications.

At the end of the training and after a period of co-training and evaluation, the qualified trainees will receive a Trainer Certificate providing local and regional trainings for organisations supporting their development and growth. - TradeArabia News Service