IGF2012-ISOC Open Forum - Internet Operations (how does the Internet work?)
Channel: Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
Date: 2012-12-27

Part of the mission of the Internet Society is advancing the underlying open and interoperable architecture of the Internet, and its distributed and collaborative means of management and development, as these principles are essential for fostering a stable, open, and trusted Internet upon which innovation can flourish.

The architecture of the Internet itself encourages the creation and global deployment of innovative, successful, and often surprising applications. On the Internet, those who create applications don't need permission to deploy them, and Internet users themselves choose which applications suit their needs, hopefully with no intermediate filtering. In short, the Internet is a robust, flexible, adaptive network of networks, whose value is greater than the sum of its parts. The Internet topology, architecture and operation are very different from the model
of traditional telecommunication networks, such as PSTN.

This Open Forum session is designed to provide an insight into activities of the Internet Society aimed at fostering the principles of the Internet architecture and operation, as well as to give a basic understanding of these principles, also in comparison with a traditional telecommunication network.

The session will provide a straightforward introduction to some of the fundamental technical concepts of Internet operations and evolution, presented by representatives of the Internet technical community. Presentations will focus on naming, addressing and routing in the Internet and will explain the role and operation of the domain name system (DNS), inter-operator traffic exchange and Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). At the end the session will explore how this technical platform that does not specify a single service, forms the basis for generating uncountably many innovative services, applications and experiences.

This session is aimed at government representatives, regulators and others involved with Internet policy work. Attendees do not need to have a technical background. With a more complete understanding of the concepts examined in this workshop, participants will be better equipped to fully engage in Internet governance discussions.


http://wsms1.intgovforum.org/2012/Meetings/internet-operations-how-does-internet-work