Middle East Network Operators Group

The Middle East Network Operators Group (MENOG) held its first meeting on 3 - 5 April 2007, at the Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel in Bahrain.

Hosted by 2Connect, MENOG 1 was open to anyone and offered a unique opportunity to identify areas for regional cooperation. With over 80 people from 17 different countries attending, the meeting was highly successful in facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experience between network operators, network engineers and other key players in the Internet industry.

The meeting also provided a platform for colleagues across the region to meet and offered a unique way for participants to keep pace with global developments and to ensure the future stability of IP networking in the Middle East.

Presentations on topics of both regional and global relevance were given, enabling attendees to discuss implementation issues requiring community cooperation. Topics of discussion included network expansion, broadband deployment and peering. Tutorials on Internet Exchange Points (IXP), IPv6, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and Network Provider Security were also given.

The RIPE NCC was proud to support the launch of this important regional forum, and provided organisational assistance throughout MENOG 1. All operators in the region are strongly encouraged to participate in MENOG to promote the dialogue and co-operation that will benefit the region. Following the success of MENOG 1, it is hoped that a second MENOG meeting will take place in the future. To keep up-to-date with developments, sign up to the RIPE NCC Middle East Mailing List.

The meeting was modelled on meetings held by NANOG (North American Network Operators Group) in North America and SANOG (South Asian Network Operators Group) in the South Asian region.