OFDS: Switzerland Workshop Sets the Scene

Fibre optic infrastructure is essential as the backbone of Internet traffic worldwide. Understanding the interplay and interconnection of these fibre optic backbones is, therefore, critical to developing a more complete picture of Internet resilience.

The Internet Society organized an Open Fibre Data Standard (OFDS) workshop hosted by the Giga Connectivity Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, from 19 to 21 May.

This was the first of several efforts we are leading to advance awareness and adoption of the OFDS worldwide since taking over the secretariat role this year. Learn more about OFDS below.

Sixteen representatives from UN organizations, multilateral banks, international non-profits, network operators, and experts in open data standards spent three days:

• Discussing and fast-tracking a multistakeholder governance mechanism for the standard to ensure that its evolution reflects the needs of its constituency.
• Planning the technical evolution of the standard and the development of software tools to facilitate the adoption and implementation of the standard
• Developing a sustainability plan for the growth of the initiative.

Priorities that emerged from the workshop included:

• A website and supporting communication material to support the standard, including informational, advocacy, and technical resources.
• Identifying a Minimum Viable Dataset that would constitute the minimum set of OFDS data to comply with the standard.
• Easy-to-use conversion tools to support the creation of OFDS datasets.
• An appealing demo of OFDS mapping to demonstrate potential.
• Governance and fundraising mechanisms to oversee, support, and sustain the standard long term.

Participants agreed that an interim overall OFDS governance group should be established to guide work on the standard and supporting activities over the next 12 months.

This group will oversee the three agreed-upon thematic working groups (Table 1) and dissolve when it achieves the key milestone of designing and implementing a multistakeholder governance mechanism for the standard.