Increasing African Participation in the IETF

Increasing African Participation in the IETF

Benson Muite

Kichakato Kizito

https://kichakatokizito.solutions

CC-BY-SA-4.0

Outline

Introduction to the IETF
History of the IETF
IETF Meeting Locations
Impact of the IETF
How to participate in the IETF
Summary

Introduction to the IETF

Internet Engineering Task Force
- An open standards body
- Can participate with an email address
- Develop and give feedback on internet protocols
- https://www.ietf.org

History of the IETF

First meeting in 1986
Result of USA funded research projects, evolved out of APARNET
MINITEL was a competing networking technology
IETF has grown to have active participation from Europe and Asia

IETF Meeting Locations

Map showing locations of previous IETF meetings

RFC Authors by Country Since RFC 8651 (October 2019)

Map showing the number of RFC authors associated to each country since RFC 8651

Attendance at IETF 116 (Yokohama)

Map showing origin country of in person attendees at IETF116

Attendance at IETF 117 (San Francisco)

Map showing origin country of in person attendees at IETF117

Attendance at IETF 118 (Prague)

Map showing origin country of in person attendees at IETF118

Attendance at IETF 119 (Brisbane)

Map showing origin country of in person attendees at IETF119

Impact of the IETF

RFC 2818 - https protocol
RFC 4721 - BGP protocol
RFC 8200 - IPV6 protocol
RFC 4880 - OpenPGP

How to Participate in the IETF

Sign up for the mailing lists
Join a meeting (online or in person)
Complimentary registration available for online participation
Global Access to the Internet for All (GAIA) Research Group

Summary

No IETF meetings yet in Africa
Some African participation, for example
Need to increase African participation to ensure standards meet African needs

Bibliography