[ncc-services-wg] Draft RIPE NCC Strategy 2022-2026

Dear Hans Petter, all:

Thank you for the excellent work that you and the NCC staff have put into
this strategy – it's fantastic! The only aspect that seems to be missing to
me is any mention of how sustainability could fit into the strategy, both
in terms of NCC's operations as well as more broadly relevant to the RIPE
community.

*Context: *Sustainability is increasingly becoming a topic relevant to the
digital sector, as its energy and resource footprint grows, as customers
prioritize sustainable solutions/products/services, and governments start
demanding greater transparency and sustainability as well. Coupled with the
fact that one of the factors driving the strategy includes the "Legislative
and regulatory issues at the EU level and within other countries in our
service region can impact how the RIPE NCC is run and how our members
operate," I think it is certainly worth prioritising. This seems especially
relevant on the eve of COP26, in the midst of the European Green Deal/Fit
for 55 strategy, and growing awareness of the ICT sector's environmental
footprint. I anticipate this will only accelerate throughout the 2020s, and
it's important that we be prepared for it *and* see it as an opportunity –
to provide greener services, better serve customers, be more sustainable
overall (for the sake of communities and the planet), and for bottom lines.

As such, I see two places that this could fit in:

   1. "*Enable our members and community to operate one secure, stable and
   resilient global Internet*" --> I'd love to see the word "sustainable"
   added after resilient to recognise and emphasise that the Internet as we
   know it is *not* currently sustainable, but can be if we work towards
   it. I also recommend adding a 3.6 bullet to say something to the effect of
   "Support efforts to increase the sustainability of the Internet and its
   underlying technologies." Not only is there additional room in the section
   for another bullet, but the section is even green :-)
   2. "*Maintain a stable organisation with a robust governance structure*"
   --> An additional bullet could be added that includes wording like
   "Endeavour to improve our environmental footprint and work towards more
   sustainable operations." This could be done via auditing/benchmarking, and
   then making improvements where you see fit. Given that more climate-related
   regulation is likely on the way in the lead up to 2030, it may also play
   well into strategic goal 4.2.

I'm curious to hear what others think. I think bold leadership is required,
and I'd love to see NCC trailblazing here.

Keep up the great work!

Best,
-Michael
__________________
Director of External Relations
Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance (SDIA <https://sdialliance.org/>
)
ICT sustainability advocate | IRPC
<https://internetrightsandprinciples.org/> Steering Committee member
Belgrade, Serbia (UTC+2) | Twitter <https://www.twitter.com/MikeOghia> |
LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoghia>
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoghia>


On Tue, Oct 26, 2021 at 4:28 PM Hans Petter Holen <hph+announce at ripe.net>
wrote:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> Today we published our Draft RIPE NCC Strategy 2022-2026. You can see
> the announcement I made to the membership at:
>
> https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ncc-announce/2021-October/001524.html
>
> We are also keen to get input from the RIPE community on our strategy,
> and I invite you to provide your feedback on this mailing list or on the
> Membership Discussion mailing list if you are subscribed there
> <members-discuss at ripe.net>.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Hans Petter Holen
> Managing Director
> RIPE NCC
>
>
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