Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference On Operational Technologies

Type:	Non-Profit
Industry:	Internet
Founded:	1996
Website:	www.apricot.net
LinkedIn:	APRICOT
Key People
Philip Smith, Chair APIA Board Paul Wilson, Vice-Chair APIA Board

The Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference On Operational Technologies (APRICOT) is organized by the Asia Pacific Internet Association (APIA) and co-organized by Asia Pacific Network Information Center to provide a forum for regional entities to to discuss the technical operations of the Internet. APRICOT conferences are held annually for ten days in conjunction with one of the meetings of the Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC), Asia Pacific Networking Group (APNG) or other Internet organizations in the region.

Mission

The main objective of APRICOT is to develop and advance the skills and understanding necessary to grow a robust Internet infrastructure, and bring together the world's top Internet experts and regional leaders.

Background

The idea of creating a technical operations conference for the Asia Pacific Region came from David Conrad, former director of APNIC, when he saw the success of the North American Network Operators Group (NANOG) conference in the United States. He thought that having such conference a in the Asia Pacific region would benefit the Internet community.

Barry Greene, of Singtel and co-founder of APIA, and Harish Pillay, senior member of Singapore Computer Society, supported Conrad's idea and convinced their respective organizations to sponsor such a conference. The response was positive and many volunteered. The first APRICOT was held in Singapore in 1996 and the conference became an annual activity.

In 2003, the APIA Board became the legal supporter and organizer of the APRICOT Conference. The Executive Committee of APRICOT Conference entered an agreement with the APIA Board to work together to maintain the growth and development of the conference.

Operational Structure

The yearly APRICOT Conference is made possible through the efforts of volunteers lead by:

• APIA Board-serves as the over-all organizer of the activity and is primarily responsible for managing its operations. The APIA Board is Chaired by Philip Smith, and Paul Wilson serves as Vice-Chairman
• APRICOT Management Committee- is responsible in the daily operation of the conference and they work closely with the local hosts of the event. The members of the Management Committee are chosen from the APIA Board, APNIC events team, local hosts and from the Internet community every year. The 2012-2013 Management Committee are co-chaired by Molly Cheam and Ole Jacobsen
• APRICOT Program Committee- is a small group of volunteers tasked to prepare the program and activities in the conference such as meetings, tutorials, seminars, birds-of-a feather (BoF) etc. The Program Committee for 2012-2012 is co-chaired by Mark Tinka and Philip Smith.
• APRICOT Fellowship Committee- works with the Chairman of the conference to determine applications from attendees in less developed countries who need financial sponsorship to be able to participate in the conference to be able to acquire new knowledge and use it for the benefit of the Internet community in their home country. Paul Wilson and Sunny Chendi are the Chair and co-Chair of the Fellowship Committee for 2012-2013.