Pacific Islands Telecommunication Association

Hosted by Vodafone Samoa, PacNOG 34 continued its mission of strengthening technical expertise among Pacific Internet operators. Held from 25–29 November 2024, in Apia, over 30 engineers from 19 organizations across 10 Pacific Island countries participated. The event featured a 1-day conference followed by a 4-day hands-on Practical Internet Operations workshop, reinforcing foundational Internet skills and applications.

The PITA Manager, Fred Christopher, responsible for organizing the PacNOG forums, added that the additional 1-day conference provides a unique space for engineers to network and share their work and development experiences while learning about network trends and best practices for optimising the internet services. He thanked the APNIC for the trainers at PacNOG 34, and PacNOG partners (APNIC, NSRC and ICANN) in enabling PacNOG programs. He also thanked Vodafone Samoa for hosting PacNOG 34 and the extra efforts in providing and ensuring a conducive learning and networking environment for the participants.

Topics during the conference included:

• Autonomous System Health Monitoring
• Top Level Domain Expansion
• Cybersecurity Trends, Basics, and Incident Response
• Introduction to Peering and Interconnection Strategies
• Data Centres, IXPs, and Undersea Cables
• Operational considerations in fast-evolving networks
• Country case studies on IPv6 deployment and progress reports
• Practical approaches for ISPs in IPv6 deployment

Vodafone Samoa CEO Mr. Rana Bose highlighted the importance of continued training to maintain competence in this essential and pivotal service sector for Pacific development.