RIPE NCC

Type:	Independent, Non-Profit
Headquarters:	Singel 258 1016 AB Amsterdam
Country:	The Netherlands
Employees:	116 (2009)
Website:	http://ripe.net
Key People
Axel Pawlik, Managing Director Paul Rendek, Head of External Relations & Communications Daniel Karrenberg, Chief Scientist Andrew de la Haye, Chief Operations Officer Jochem de Ruig, Chief Financial Officer

The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) is the RIR for Europe, the Middle East, and parts Central Asia. The main focus of RIPE is fostering the Internet's technical development for the region it represents. It does this specifically by providing Internet resource allocations, registration services and coordinating activities for the region.

The organizations most important tasks include:

• Distribution and registration of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and Autonomous System (AS) Numbers
• Operating the RIPE Database
• Operating the K-root server cluster, one of the world’s 13 root name servers
• Coordinating the RIPE community

RIPE NCC is not to be confused with RIPE, a related but independent collaborative forum.

History

RIPE NCC was established on September 16th, 1990, to deal with administrative tasks for RIPE, although it was not formally established and recognized until 1992. RIPE NCC did not become a separate legal entity until 1998. Although the two organizations are legally independent today, they remain highly interdependent. RIPE NCC supports RIPE by facilitating RIPE meetings and providing support for RIPE working groups. RIPE NCC maintains the RIPE database, a public database containing registration details of the IP addresses and AS numbers originally allocated to members by the RIPE NCC.

Membership

Organizations and individuals must become members of their regional RIR in order to request large amounts of IP addresses and AS Numbers, or when they plan to assign them to End Users or customers. Most of the organization's members are ISPs and telecommunications organizations, but other members include corporations, academic institutions and government bodies. At the end of 2009, RIPE NCC has 6,583 members in 76 countries.

There is a sign-up fee for joining RIPE NCC, after which members must pay an annual fee dependent on their size.

Organizational Structure

The Executive Board

The executive board, which consists of five people, is elected by the members of RIPE NCC. Their duties are to represent the membership and provide guidance to RIPE NCC's senior management team, approve the RIPE NCC's Activity Plan and Budget, appoint the RIPE NCC management, and call General Meetings. They are responsible for the overall financial position of the organization, and are to keep up-to-date records of RIPE NCC's financial situation. The Executive Board delegates all operational decisions relating to the Standard Service Agreements to the management staff.

RIPE NCC staff chain of command.

The current Executive Board members are:

• Nigel Titley, Chairman (May 2010-May 2013)
• Remco van Mook, Treasurer (May 2010-May 2013)
• Andreas Wittkemper, Secretary (May 2008-May 2011)
• Dmitry Burkov, ICANN Liaison (May 2009-May 2012)
• Fahad AlShirawi, Member (May 2008-May 2011)

Members of the Executive Board serve a 3-year term.

Staff

The duties of the staff overall are to

1. Perform the operations and facilitate the services of RIPE NCC.
2. Provide administrative support for RIPE and RIPE NCC members.
3. Cooperate with the other four RIRs and industry partners like ISOC and ICANN.
4. Implement policies proposed and accepted by RIPE.

The management staff are made up of the Managing Director, the Head of External Relations and Communications, the Chief Operations Officer, the Chief Technical Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Chief Scientist. The Managing director works closely with HR and the Senior Management Assistants, and oversees each of the other members of the management staff. The Head of External Relations and Communications oversees the External Relations and Outreach and Communications and Web Services departments. The Chief Operations Officer oversees Registration Services, Customer Services, Business Applications, Training Services, and the Policy Development Office. The Chief Technical Officer supervises the Information Security Officer, IT Services, the RIPE database, Information Services, DNS Services, and the Senior Project Manager. RIPE NCC currently has no CTO, and the COO, Andrew de la Haye, has taken over the supervision of software development. The Chief Financial Officer oversees the Finance department and the Front Office. The Chief Scientist oversees the Science Group, which deals with research, Internet measurements, data collection and analysis. The current CS, Daniel Karrenberg, currently also advises the Managing Director and the Senior Management team, particularly on new activities and matters of strategy.

External Links

• Countries Served by Ripe NCC</ref>