Under the patronage of HE Eng. Atef Al Tal, Minister of Information and Communications Technology and hosted by the Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN), the Middle East Network Operators Group (MENOG) conference was inaugurated at the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman. The October 7-8 MENOG meetings offer network engineers and other technical staff the opportunity to share their experiences and knowledge, and identify areas for regional cooperation. HE Engineer Nader Thneibat, Deputizing for the Minister of ICT, indicated that this event is an important forum to discuss and learn latest technology innovation in communication infrastructure and network operations. Meanwhile, deputizing for HE Dr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman of ASREN, Dr. Salem Al Agtash, delivered a speech entitled "Prospects in Regional Research and Education Network" on behalf of Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh saying:"His majesty King Abdullah II has always been setting the grounds for us to work hard to promote technology and bring home all what is required to create platforms of innovations, boost communications infrastructure and build prominent ICT business and industries." "MENOG is an important venue that brings international experts, network operators, businesses, innovators and researchers together to discuss the challenges and solutions in this field and we are proud to be part of it," he added. From his part Osama I. Al-Dosary, MENOG chairman said "MENOG is concerned with Internet operations and its technical community. Its all about experience sharing and education of this community. This goes hand in hand with objectives of the RENs (Research Education Networks), especially given that the Internet grew out of RENs." Yousef Torman, ASREN Managing Director delivered a presentation on the work of Research Networks and the main drivers for them such as technology, society and economy. " Research and education networks are dedicated networks connecting the Universities, Schools, Research Centers, Hospitals, Museums and any other institution that may have research and education activities meanwhile, National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) are established to provide connectivity and communications services for the research and education communities at the national level," he said. The MENOG 11 will be holding several workshops on IPv6 for ISPs and Network Management Tools in addition to several presentations by experts from around the world on Introduction to Encryption, Palestine Internet Exchange Point (PIX) and Hardening Network Devices in addition to others. ASREN was created as a legal entity under the auspices of the League of Arab States and the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) to help secure sustainable e-Infrastructures across the Arab world. Press Release
