Alain Aina wins the 2012 Network Information and Infrastructure Service Award


The fourth Network Information and Infrastructure Service Award has been awarded to Alain Aina for his work in promoting Internet development in Africa.

Mrs Isatou Jah of QCELL presented the Award to Alain Aina during AFRINIC's 16th  Public Policy Meeting in Serekunda, The Gambia. Alain Aina presently holds several positions in numerous organisations. He is the Special Projects Manager at the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC), a Board of trustee at ISOC, DNSSec Crypto officer at ICANN and Managing Director of TRSTech.

Dr. Nii Quaynor, conveyor of AfNOG and initiator of the Award praised Mr. Aina for his commitment to the development of the Internet in Africa. “This award gives an indication of our expectations from the community and rewarding Alain's exemplary work is a clear reflection of this. Such commitment will ensure that the community remains on the right path to success,” said Dr Quaynor during the awards ceremony held at the Sheraton Hotel in Banjul, The Gambia.

Aina was equally ecstatic. “For me, it was a big surprise. I feel humbled. This award comes with a lot of responsibility. I shall continue to work and contribute at the regional level, and continue to be involved in developing the technical and policy aspects of the Internet, as well as training,” said Mr Aina upon receiving the award.

Besides the main NI&I Award, a Young professional Award was also given to Chimwemwe Frederick for her contribution to the Internet infrastructure development.
“The Award celebrates excellence in Africa. It is meant to reward innovation and commitment to the development of Internet in Africa,” says Adiel Akplogan, CEO of AFRINIC and recipient of the first NI&I Service Award in 2009.

The Network Information & Infrastructure (NI&I) Service Award was set up in 2009 during AfNOG’s 10 years anniversary by Dr Nii Narku Quaynor, who himself received the Internet Society's prestigious Jonathan Postel Award in 2007 for his service in the region and dedication, commitment and leadership. The NI&I Service Award has been set up to reward individuals and organisations for providing Internet services and Infrastructure in Africa.  The NI&I Service Award  recognises and rewards the next generation of heroes and models from the African Internet technical community for their achievements.

The African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) is the Regional Registry for Internet Number Resources for Africa. Based in Mauritius, AFRINIC's mission is to support Internet development in Africa and promote bottom up Internet policy development in the region. www.afrinic.net

The Africa Network Operators Group  (AfNOG) is a forum for the exchange of technical information, and aims to promote discussion of implementation issues that require community cooperation through coordination and cooperation among network service providers to ensure the stability of service to end users. The goal of AfNOG is to share experience of technical challenges in setting up, building and running IP networks on the African continent - www.afnog.org.