The APNIC Foundation (Foundation) is pleased to be hosting two sessions at the upcoming APRICOT 2023 conference in Manila.
On Monday, 27 February, the Foundation will host a session on fostering technical community action on climate and inclusion. This session will provide an update on the Foundation’s activities, with a particular focus on ISIF Asia’s first-ever Ian Peter Grants for Internet and the Environment, as well as the Switch! South East Asia gender and diversity project.
An update on the Ian Peter Grants for Internet and the Environment
2022 was the first year of these grants, which in various ways address the environmental impacts of the Internet. They are named after Ian Peter — an environmental activist and pioneering founder of Australia’s first public Internet service. These five grants, offered in his memory, reflect Ian’s vision for environmental activism through meaningful connectivity.
One of these projects will be featured at the session: The EcoInternet Index by the DotAsia Foundation will involve continual research on the carbon footprints of Internet infrastructures, the efficiency of data exchange, the use of renewable energy and the development of the digital economy. These would all factor into the EcoInternet Index, which would enable meaningful and comprehensive comparisons among different jurisdictions and observe the changes throughout the years.
An update on the Switch! project
The session will also cover the latest progress in the Switch! Gender and Diversity project that provides support in Cambodia, Laos PDR, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste and Viet Nam.
The project provides technical training and mentoring, as well as training in related management, to women and gender-diverse network engineers and security professionals working in the technical sector. The 160+ participants develop their own personalized study plans and can choose from a range of training providers. Some participants also have their research projects supported. They also receive support to increase their engagement with technical community events and conferences.
The project has a coordinator for each of the six economies, and this national coordinator stays in close contact with the participants.
The project team also has a planning session before the conference, which will give them a chance to coordinate their activities more closely and meet with attendees the Foundation is supporting to attend the conference in person. This year, the Foundation has supported fellowships for 27 Switch! participants.
| Name | Economy | Attending (Workshop / Conference) | Job Title | Employer |
| Catherine Manuela Lee Ramos | PH | Both | Assistant Professor | De la Salle University |
| Ivan Kenley Obelidor | PH | Both | Service Operations Center Engineer | Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. |
| Aira Villapando | PH | Workshop | Computer Maintenance Technologist III | Philippine Space Agency |
| Jose Carmelo Cueto | PH | Both | Engineer III | Department of Information and Communications Technology |
| Ninja Tadifa | PH | Conference + Hackathon | Service Procurement Supervisor | IXSforall Inc. |
| Genevieve Kay La Rosa | PH | Both | Engineer 3 – Service Operations Center, Network Operations and Maintenance | Eastern Communications |
| Zendie Monea Sollano-Cabanlong | PH | Conference | Information Technology Officer I | Department of Information and Communications Technology |
| Cecilia Tadeo | PH | Both (APNIC Foundation Fellow for the conference) | Professor | University of Makati |
| Erika Sobrino | PH | Both + Hackathon | Network Operations Centre Engineer | IXSforall Inc. |
| Jasmine Carlos | PH | Both (APNIC Foundation Fellow for workshop) | Data Centre Operations Engineer | DataOne Asia (Phils.) Inc. |
| Glycirynne Dianne Apolonio | PH | Both (APNIC Foundation Fellow for the conference) | Transport Project Management - Manager | Converge ICT Solutions Inc. |
| Acmilah Macabuat | PH | Conference | Information Technology Officer 1 | Department of Information and Communications Technology |
| Colline Estrada | PH | Both (APNIC Foundation Fellow for workshop) | Junior ICT Associate Manager | University of the Philippines Diliman Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute |
| Jamaica Ida Palce | PH | Conference | Data Protection Officer/Data Protection and Privacy Coordinator | SAP Philippines, Inc. |
| Jenina Maica Recide | PH | Both | Network/Systems Architect | Converge ICT Solutions Inc. |
| Challiz Omorog | PH | Both | Dean, College of Computer Studies | Camarines Sur Polytechnic College |
| Fredilyn Pedron | PH | Both | IT Operations Manager | PlayPark Inc. |
| Erna Apusaga | PH | Workshop | Network Specialist | International Business Machine (IBM) |
| Anna Clarissa Sevilla | PH | Both | Service Operations Centre Engineer | Eastern Communications Inc. |
| Maricar Salazar | PH | Both | Service Operations Centre Engineer | Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. |
| Christine Alejandro | PH | Workshop | Network Technical Support Staff | University of the Philippines Diliman Computer Centre |
| Myann Ramirez | PH | Conference | Network Technical Support Staff | Globe Telecom |
| Linh Hoai Le | VN | Conference | Network Administrator | NetNam Corporation |
| Morokot Cheat | KH | Conference | Government Official | Ministry of Post and Telecommunications |
| Sasirat Chansirikiat | TH | Conference | IP Engineer | International Gateway Company Limited |
| Vasira Mysavath | LA | Conference | Head of Network & integration system | Digital Government Centre, Ministry of Technology and Communications |
| Lourdes Lay | TL | Conference | ICT Operational Advisor | Ministry Of Public Works |
Table 1 — APNIC Foundation fellowship recipients.
Diversity and inclusivity in Tech
The Foundation is also hosting the Diversity and Inclusivity in Tech BoF session, which will include a discussion between the moderators and six panel members on the challenges around diversity in network operations in the Asia Pacific region.
You can learn more about the individual panel members on the APRICOT website — each of them brings different experiences working as women and gender-diverse engineers working in network operations in different parts of the region. They will discuss:
- Identifying current trends and issues being observed in their field and specific economy.
- Solutions at an organizational, national, and regional level.
- Their experience in bringing diversity to a predominately male sector, and how their approaches to work and problem-solving have been informed by their personal experiences.
- The barriers they faced and how they overcame them when joining the sector. Their opinions on diversity and inclusion in the field of network operations across the Asia Pacific region, and what would help to increase this at national and regional levels.
To wrap up the session, the panellists will be asked to give advice on how to start and thrive in network operations.
The Foundation is also presenting on Monitoring and Evaluation practices at the AP* retreat meeting on Sunday, 26 February. The presentation will be available to the public after the meeting.
The views expressed by the authors of this blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of APNIC. Please note a Code of Conduct applies to this blog.