The 2018 ngNOG Conference and Workshop held in Lagos from 29th October to 3rd November 2018. The ngNOG forum as conceived is for developing local technical capacity in the management of Internet-connected networks in Nigeria. While the events have extended beyond the Research and Education space to include more commercial network operators and innovators that depend on reliable networks, the goal remains reliable broadband Internet access and services for end users. In the past three years (starting 2016), the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) had joined the forum to create capacity in the DNS Industry. The attendance at the NiRA workshop track at ngNOG is free for participants but limited to the capacity of the class.
In the 2018 edition of the ngNOG, a platform was provided for key players in telecommunications and infrastructure to build technical capacity and explore opportunities to deepen Nigeria’s broadband Internet penetration and improve quality of service. Speakers discussed on the current challenges with the rural areas and suggestions were made on how to overcome and improve on the internet penetration to the rural areas.
Considering that this was the first time in the past three years that the ngNOG conference and workshop held in Lagos, attendance was very high at the conference. There were speakers from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), Medallion Communications, MainOne, Google, Internet Society (ISOC), Facebook, Afrinic, Netflix and many others.
There were glowing remarks from the participants of the various tracks of the workshops on the quality of the knowledge impacted on the participants.