RIPE Fellows benefit from the face-to-face exposure being at a meeting provides: full engagement in plenary and RIPE Working Group sessions, experiencing BoFs, workshops and tutorials and, of course, the ample time to network and share best practices during coffee breaks, lunches and socials.
We welcomed seven people to RIPE 75 in Dubai (22-26 October) as part of the RIPE Fellowship programme. The aim of the fellowship is to increase inclusivity by removing the financial aspect that can be a barrier for some to fully participate. We cover the cost of travel, accommodation and the meeting ticket for selected candidates. RIPE Fellows benefit from the face-to-face exposure being at a meeting provides: full engagement in plenary and RIPE Working Group sessions, experiencing BoFs, workshops and tutorials and, of course, the ample time to network and share best practices during coffee breaks, lunches and socials.
The selection committee had quite a challenge for RIPE 75, we had so many amazing applicants that we decided to bring five new fellows in addition to the two returning fellows invited back after RIPE 74.
Our RIPE 75 Fellows
Jie Li (returning) - University College London, UK
Ella Titova (returning) - MTS Armenia
Zeina Daghles - Core Switching Engineer, Jawwal, Palestine
Ahmed Aleroud - Assistant Professor of Information Systems, Yarmouk University, Jordan
Leen Said Hanoun - Jr. Software Developer, Axos AG, Palestine
Olga Kyryliuk - Co-founder "Digital Defenders Partners", Ukraine
Elif Sert - Research Assistant, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
RIPE 75 Fellows (l-r) Ahmed Aleroud, Ella Titova, Olga Kyryliuk, Zeina Doughlas, Elif Sert and Jie Li (Leen Hanoun not pictured).
Here are some of the excerpts from the reports that the RIPE Fellows submitted about their experience at RIPE 75:
Zeina Doughlas
"My experience at RIPE 75 was awesome...I liked that sessions are available for all and any participant can attend, there is no closed or secret sessions...Also in this meeting, I did a short presentation at the Women in Tech session. It was the first time I held the microphone on stage and talked to people about my activities and how can women in tech affect the local communities, so I achieved one of my dreams to have the courage to take and stand with confidence to present in front of the RIPE Chair, many RIPE and ISOC staff, and fellows."
Olga Kyryliuk
"I found the discussions happening within the framework of Diversity Task Force truly interesting and needed . Coming from a legal background I especially appreciate the efforts that are undertaken to make the technical community more welcoming and understandable for non-tech people. There are a lot of issues at the intersection of law and technology that require a multidimensional approach, which is unlikely to be achieved if all the discussions will be happening within closed professional communities."
Jie Li
"The presentations on IPv6 brought me some new knowledge. For example, 464XLAT is responsible for translation from IPv4 to IPv6 and the transform from IPv4 to IPv6 is not easy because many problems should be solved during the process. Massimo Candela, my mentor during this meeting introduced geo.ripe.net, an infrastructure for IP geolocation. He also described an updated version of OpenIPMap, to support geolocation. These can be very helpful because current IP geolocation methods/datasets are not precise enough for our research."
Elif Sert
"For the first time, I was able to gain an in-depth understanding of the technical aspects involved in emerging technologies as well as in legal issues. At the end of the week, I was encouraged by the RIPE NCC staff to take an active role in the IoT Working Group, which created an appetite for me to get more involved in this community. "
Ella Titova
"The RIPE Fellowship programme gives a lot to the people who cannot participate in RIPE Meetings due to some reasons. Now they have a chance to come and meet community members and RIPE NCC staff."
Leen Hanoun
"My personal highlight at the RIPE meeting has to be the Birds of Feather (BoF) sessions. It was amazing to see an atmosphere so welcoming of diversity and creating somewhat of a safe zone for the individual to speak so openly and freely, knowing that you can be heard and your opinion is really appreciated, you can honestly tell that people really care about what you have to say and will go to extreme lengths to make you feel comfortable and safe as much as possible.”
Expanding the RIPE Fellowship
The RIPE NCC is increasing its funding to welcome more RIPE Fellows to RIPE 76 and RIPE 77. We will begin accepting applications for RIPE 76 when the meeting registration opens early next year, so keep an eye on your inbox.
You can read more information about the RIPE Fellowship here.
Comments 0
Comments are disabled on articles published more than a year ago. If you'd like to inform us of any issues, please reach out to us via the contact form here.