Proposal

APrIGF 2026 Session Proposal Submission Form
Part 1 - Lead Organizer
Contact Person
Mr. Om Prakash Sharma
Email
Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate) *
RIPE Atlas
Designation
Ambassador
Gender
Male
Economy of Residence
Nepal
Stakeholder Group
Technical Community
List Your Organizing Partners (if any)
Lia Hestina
Community Development Officer, RIPE NCC
lhestina@ripe.net
Part 2 - Session Proposal
Session Title
Let's Measure the Internet: RIPE Atlas for APAC Digital Resilience
Thematic Track of Your Session

  • Option

    • Primary: Digital Resilience and Building of Trust
    • Secondary: Universal and Meaningful Connectivity
Session Format
Showcase (30 minutes)
Where do you plan to organize your session?
Hybrid (with onsite moderator and speakers both online and offline, with online moderator for questions and comments from remote participants)
Specific Issues for Discussion
The Asia Pacific region depends on an Internet that remains reachable, trustworthy, and measurable during disruptions such as platform blocking, cable failures, natural disasters, routing changes, cyber incidents, and sudden connectivity loss. However, discussions about Internet disruptions often rely on anecdotal evidence or delayed reporting, while regional capacity to measure reachability, latency, packet loss, IPv4/IPv6 availability, and route changes remains uneven.

This 30-minute showcase will demonstrate how RIPE Atlas and related open measurement approaches can provide practical evidence about Internet resilience. Participants will see how measurements such as ping and traceroute can help investigate whether a service is unreachable, identify routing or performance changes, and compare IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity.

Examples from the proposer's “Let's Measure the Internet!” materials will include Nepal social-media reachability, “no response” results, route visualization, IPv4/IPv6 observations, and submarine-cable disruption analysis. The showcase will emphasize responsible interpretation: what measurements can reveal, what they cannot prove by themselves, and why technical evidence must be considered alongside local context.

The session will conclude with practical ways for APAC communities to create measurements, use RIPE Atlas credits, deploy probes, and collaborate on public-interest Internet measurement.
Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF
This showcase directly supports the APrIGF 2026 overarching theme, “Safeguarding a Resilient Internet in Times of Crisis.” Communities cannot protect or govern Internet resilience effectively unless they can observe how networks behave during disruptions.

The session contributes to the Digital Resilience and Building of Trust track by demonstrating practical approaches to measuring reachability, routing, latency, packet loss, and infrastructure resilience. Open and responsibly interpreted measurements can strengthen trust by giving technical communities, civil society, researchers, journalists, youth, and policymakers a shared evidence base for discussing Internet disruptions.

The session also supports Universal and Meaningful Connectivity. Meaningful connectivity requires more than having a connection: it must remain reliable and useful during ordinary and crisis conditions. RIPE Atlas can help identify degraded connectivity, IPv6 failures, route changes, and networks or economies that remain underrepresented in global measurement coverage.

Expected outcomes are that participants understand the basic purpose of RIPE Atlas, recognize how measurement evidence can support public-interest Internet governance, understand its contextual and ethical limitations, and leave with concrete options for conducting measurements or contributing probes.
Methodology / Agenda (Please add rows by clicking "+" on the right)
Time frame (e.g. 5 minutes, 20 minutes, should add up to the time limit of your selected session format) Description
2 minutes Welcome, objectives, and a quick hybrid poll about Internet disruptions experienced by onsite and remote participants.
4 minutes Framing: why Internet measurement matters for resilience, trust, and meaningful connectivity, and how RIPE Atlas supports open active measurements.
8 minutes Practical showcase of ping, traceroute, RTT, packet loss, IPv4/IPv6 checks, route visualization, and interpreting “no response” results.
7 minutes APAC case walkthrough using Nepal social-media reachability and submarine-cable or routing disruption examples, including what measurements can and cannot prove.
7 minutes Moderated audience discussion and Q&A. Participants identify one disruption they would like to measure and the evidence required. Questions will alternate between onsite and remote participants.
2 minutes Practical next steps: creating measurements, accessing RIPE Atlas credits, deploying probes, collaborating locally, and final takeaways.
Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible) - (Required)

  • Moderator (Primary)

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One

  • Moderator (Facilitator)

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One

  • Speaker 1

    • Name: Om Prakash Sharma
    • Organization: RIPE Atlas
    • Designation: Ambassador
    • Gender: Male
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Nepal
    • Stakeholder Group: Technical Community
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed
    • Link of Bio (URL only): https://omprakashsharma.com.np

  • Speaker 2

    • Name: Lia Hestina
    • Organization: RIPE NCC
    • Designation: Community Development Officer
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Netherlands
    • Stakeholder Group: Technical Community
    • Expected Presence: Online
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed
    • Link of Bio (URL only): https://www.ripe.net/about-us/press-centre/publications/speakers/lia-hestina/

  • Speaker 3

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One

  • Speaker 4

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One

  • Speaker 5

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One
Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session.
Om Prakash Sharma brings practical technical and community experience as a RIPE Atlas Ambassador and creator of the “Let's Measure the Internet!” materials. He will lead the demonstration and connect measurement concepts with APAC examples involving reachability, routing, IPv4/IPv6, and infrastructure resilience.

Lia Hestina brings platform knowledge and community-development experience from the RIPE NCC. She will strengthen the technical accuracy of the showcase, explain responsible use of RIPE Atlas, and help engage remote participants.

Together, the contributors combine an APAC community perspective with RIPE Atlas technical and capacity-building expertise. Using two contributors is appropriate for the concise 30-minute format and preserves sufficient time for audience questions.
If you need assistance to find a suitable speaker to contribute to your session, or an onsite facilitator for your online-only session, please specify your request with details of what you are looking for.
Given the revised 30-minute showcase format, we are not currently seeking an additional speaker. If a separate onsite facilitator or online moderator is required for hybrid delivery, we would appreciate assistance or guidance from the Secretariat.
Has AI been used to develop this proposal?
No
Please declare if you have any potential conflict of interest with the Program Committee 2026.
No
Are you or other session contributors planning to apply for the APrIGF Fellowship Program 2026?
No
Upon evaluation by the Program Committee, your session proposal may only be selected under the condition that you will accept the suggestion of merging with another proposal with similar topics. Please state your preference below:
Yes, I am willing to work with another session proposer on a suggested merger.
Number of Attendees (Please fill in numbers)
    Gender Balance in Moderators/Speakers (Please fill in numbers)
      Consent
      I agree that my data can be submitted to forms.for.asia and processed by APrIGF organizers for the program selection of APrIGF 2026.