Reflections on NetUK 3: Why Human Connection Drives Technical Interconnectivity
It’s been a month since the end of NetUK 3. That gives us at LONAP enough room to take a breath, step back, and reflect on how everything went.
Organising an event that requires the input and support of multiple steering committees, volunteer working groups, and commercial partners isn’t easy. It’s a Herculean task that requires everyone to bend their schedules and priorities to the will of the collective. But that’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it? The interconnectivity that makes IXPs what they are depends on the same sort of cooperation that makes events like NetUK possible.
Several core themes stood out from our perspective during the event and the weeks following it.
The Value of Transparency in Operations
When IXPs engage in open discussions about issues and solutions, they can tackle challenges more swiftly and effectively than any single operator could manage alone. This principle has always been at the core of LONAP’s philosophy; by collaborating to resolve issues, we can collectively lighten our burdens more quickly.
The Power of Committee Collaboration
When it comes to events like NetUK 3, organising one is a herculean task. To balance the needs of the different working groups, IXPs and commercial partners, that put on the event requires an absolutely enormous amount of effort and compromise.
But when you’ve got that collaboration, you get something much bigger than a conference – you get a shared vision for the future of the IXPs that operate together in the UK. By sharing the burden of hosting an event that is designed to meet the needs of the collective, not just individual IXPs, you raise the bar for the industry as a whole.
The Importance of Mentoring and Investing in the Next Generation
The technology underpinning IP networks is changing faster than ever before thanks to software driven switches, but it’s the knowledge of the people using these tools that is passed from generation to generation, or more accurately, from person to person.
One of the genuine highlights of NetUK 3 was observing how people shared real world experience with new entrants to the space. Knowledge transfer within the peering community truly thrives in spaces that foster honest conversation between industry veterans and newcomers. Providing the next generation with a deep understanding of the history and architecture of UK interconnection is essential for navigating the traffic requirements of the future.
At LONAP, we are all about building that culture of community and collaboration around IXPs, and NetUK 3 was a much needed reminder that it is these same sorts of human interaction that drive high-performance infrastructure connectivity at scale.
A sincere thank you goes out to the other organisers, the dedicated volunteers, and everyone who attended the event. We look forward to seeing how these conversations translate into network improvements across the industry over the coming months.
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