Bangladesh’s network community comes together at bdNOG 20

Network and DNS Security (Train-the-Trainer) workshop led by Md. Abdul Awal, Suman Kumar Saha, and Shaila Sharmin during bdNOG 20 in Sylhet. Photo via bdNOG.

Bangladesh's Internet operations community marked an important milestone in Sylhet at the end of 2025 with the 20th meeting of the Bangladesh Network Operators Group (bdNOG 20), alongside a dedicated Member Gathering that brought operators, engineers, trainers, and decision-makers into the same room for open, practical discussion.

Bangladesh has one of the largest and most active Internet communities in the Asia Pacific region. bdNOG 20 reflected this maturity and momentum, particularly as the economy looks ahead to LDC graduation late this year.

Against that backdrop, the Sylhet meetings created space for Members to reconnect after a period with fewer opportunities for in-person engagement, and to raise issues that matter directly to networks and their users.

Training that translates into action

The bdNOG workshops that preceded the conference focused on something the community consistently values - hands-on technical training that can be applied immediately.

The three-day Network and DNS Security 'Train-the-Trainer' workshop brought together participants from ISPs, banks, Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), universities, transit providers, and data centres. Topics ranged from security fundamentals and cryptography to Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) security, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) mitigation, RPKI, Route Origin Validation (ROV), IPv6 readiness, and DNSSEC, all reinforced with practical labs.

Participants identified ROA creation, RPKI validation, and DNSSEC implementation as particularly valuable takeaways. In several cases, these discussions are already translating into deployment plans, including potential RPKI adoption at major networks and wider DNSSEC rollout across the economy.

Just as importantly, the workshop strengthened local capacity. Trainers and 27 participants alike are now better equipped to pass this knowledge on within their organizations and the wider Bangladeshi network community.

Member-driven conversations in Sylhet

APNIC held a Member Gathering after the bdNOG workshops and ahead of the conference that was shaped largely by participant input. Ahead of the gathering, attendees were invited to share what they wanted to discuss, and those responses directly informed the agenda. The result was a focused, technical conversation, with discussions centred on three broad areas:

• Internet resource management and account operations.
• IPv6 and RPKI deployment status and trends.
• Practical questions around routing security, dual-stack operations, and customer management.

The session quickly moved into detailed, real-world problem-solving. Engineers raised configuration issues with MikroTik devices, dual-stack bandwidth management using RADIUS, and IPv6 deployment challenges in live ISP environments. Others asked policy-related questions from IPv4 allocation sizes to fee changes linked to LDC graduation and discussed how local realities might affect global frameworks.

Several conversations extended beyond individual networks. Participants emphasized the importance of keeping incident response contacts current and encouraged local software developers to support better dual-stack and IPv6-aware tooling - a reminder that operational readiness is an ecosystem effort.

Feedback from the session was overwhelmingly positive. While not every requested topic could be covered in the limited time, gaps such as DNSSEC were picked up in depth during the bdNOG conference program the following day.

A conference grounded in local experience

The bdNOG 20 conference itself drew more than 200 attendees. DNSSEC emerged as a strong theme, with presentations that moved beyond theory and into the realities of deploying and maintaining secure DNS in Bangladeshi institutions.

Hearing operators describe what worked, what didn't, and what they would do differently resonated strongly with the audience, reinforcing the value of peer-to-peer learning over abstract best practice.

Throughout the day, informal conversations were just as important as the formal program. Members compared notes on IPv4 management, account operations, payment challenges, and contact management - often resolving issues on the spot through shared experience and guidance.

What stood out

Across both events, several themes were clear:

• Community-led agendas work. When topics are shaped by Member input, engagement is deeper, and discussions are more practical.
• Technical depth matters. Operators want to talk about real configurations, failures, and fixes - not just high-level overviews.
• Security and IPv6 are no longer optional. RPKI, DNSSEC, and IPv6 readiness are now seen as essential components of network operations, not future aspirations.
• Face-to-face engagement still counts. After years of limited in-person interaction, the value of direct discussion and shared problem-solving was obvious.

There were also lessons for the future, from choosing more accessible venues to allowing more time for discussion and staging invitations to better manage attendance. These are refinements, not setbacks - and they reflect a community keen to keep improving how it comes together.

Alumni and fellows reconnect

Following the conference, 21 APNIC and bdNOG fellows and alumni from across Bangladesh came together to share their journeys, exchange experiences, and strengthen ties within the local network operations community at the Fellows Meet and Greet in Dhaka.

For several fellows, it was their first time attending a community event of this kind. Joyeeta Sen Rimpee and Sajidur Rahman Rabby shared their fellowship experiences, with Joyeeta also reflecting on her role as a speaker at bdNOG 20. Discussions highlighted the importance of outreach beyond the existing community, including suggestions to promote future events through university channels to better engage academic audiences.

As well as past and present fellows, the event brought together Community Trainers, APNIC Policy SIG Co-Chair Shaila Sharmin, and APNIC Executive Council member Yoshinobu Matsuzaki, reinforcing the people-to-people relationships that underpin the region's success. Several fellows expressed interest in continuing their involvement, including potential participation in APNIC Train-the-Trainer pathways.

These informal gatherings continue to play an important role in sustaining Bangladesh's technical community and encouraging the next generation of network leaders, while also highlighting opportunities to strengthen awareness and communication ahead of future events.

Looking ahead

bdNOG 20, the meet and greet in Dhaka, and the Sylhet Member Gathering demonstrated the strength and maturity of Bangladesh's Internet community. By focusing on shared challenges, practical skills, and peer learning, participants reinforced a culture of collaboration that will be critical as networks scale, policies evolve, and security expectations rise.

Above all, the events showed that progress is driven not by tools alone, but by people - engineers, operators, trainers, and community leaders - working together to build a more resilient Internet for Bangladesh and the broader region.

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.