The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC), in collaboration with Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), held five workshops and three training courses to foster the deployment of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) in Saudi Arabia. The course took place over a four-day period at CITC headquarters in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and was attended by CITC, local Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecom operators and other interested parties. The RIPE NCC conducted three training courses and five IPv6 workshops last Sep. 16-19 16-19, including: • Basic IPv6 Training Course – which elaborated on the imminent IPv4 run-out, the necessity to switch to IPv6 and how to prepare for deployment. • IPv6 Security Training Course – which provided an overview of IPv6 security issues and how to address them. • Measurements and Tools Training Course – an introduction to RIPEstat, a web-based interface providing information about IP address space, Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs), and related data for hostnames and countries; and RIPE Atlas, a vast Internet measurement platform that employs a global network of over 10,000 probes to actively measure Internet reachability and connectivity. • Dedicated workshops for the mobile operators and ISPs. Eng. Raed Al-Fayez, Head of Internet Services at CITC, said: "There are many opportunities and challenges for the Internet in KSA. The workshop and training courses helped us to understand how deploying IPv6 can help Saudi Arabia improve its current Internet infrastructure. These meetings also provide the perfect opportunity to review the Kingdom's capability to meet its 2030 vision. We look forward to continuing our successful collaboration with the RIPE NCC." Chafic Chaya, Regional Communications Manager for Middle East at RIPE NCC, commented: "We would like to thank our partners at CITC for their efforts and contribution, which has reaffirmed our commitment towards our members and the Internet community in supporting them with our technical expertise. Capacity building is crucial to technological advancement and migrating to IPv6 will provide KSA with better economic opportunities. — SG
