On 15 July 2025, Bennett University in Greater Noida hosted an insightful and forward-looking workshop under the Advanced Internet Operations Research in India (AIORI) program, bringing together students, faculty, and internet technology experts for a day dedicated to understanding Internet Standards, Internet Measurements, and the evolving landscape of India’s digital infrastructure. Held at Plot Nos. 8 and 11 in TechZone 2, the event stood as a remarkable example of how academic institutions can play a central role in strengthening national digital capability by fostering awareness and technical engagement among young engineering minds. The day began with an engaging inaugural session led by the Dean of the School of Engineering at Bennett University. His welcome address encouraged students to think beyond conventional engineering boundaries and understand the deeper layers of how the global internet ecosystem functions, stressing the importance of involving academia in Internet Engineering and emphasizing that future innovations will emerge from well-informed young professionals who appreciate not only software development but also protocols, routing, governance, and internet measurement frameworks, a message that set an inspiring tone for the entire day. The inaugural session was seamlessly followed by opening remarks from three distinguished guests: Mr. Anand Raje, Chair of the Internet Society – Kolkata Chapter; Mr. Anupam Agrawal from IIFON; and Dr. John Jose from IEEE IC. Their presence highlighted the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration in strengthening the country’s digital infrastructure, with each speaker discussing how the internet, as a distributed system, depends critically on standards, measurement, and structured governance, encouraging students to actively participate in the global community, contribute to open-source internet standards, and explore emerging areas in network engineering and digital research. The first technical session of the event was conducted by Mr. Anand Raje, who delivered an in-depth exploration of AIORI’s mission and the larger purpose behind its national measurement initiatives, explaining that the internet operates at layers most users never see and detailing how real-time measurements such as latency, routing behavior, DNS resolution, and packet transfer patterns help identify gaps in network performance across different regions of India. His session introduced students to the concept of building a unified national observability framework through distributed measurement nodes, specifically introducing the Raspberry Pi–based AIORI Anchors—compact yet powerful nodes that will be deployed across academic institutions to collect and analyze internet performance data, captivating students with the potential of these small devices to contribute to national-scale research and become part of a nationwide benchmarking grid. A special session followed featuring Ms. Amrita Choudhary, Director of the Cyber Café Association of India (CCAOI), whose talk on Internet Governance and the role of academia helped students understand the policy-level responsibilities that shape the digital ecosystem, discussing how the internet involves not just technical operations but also governance frameworks revolving around inclusivity, accessibility, privacy, and data security, emphasizing academia’s importance in shaping responsible digital citizenship and contributing to governance models through research and active public discussion. Another key session was delivered by Mr. Pradeep Verma, Scientist D from the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), whose insights connected national digital policy with technical implementation, giving students a deeper understanding of how government-led initiatives contribute to a stronger, more resilient digital India, explaining the role of research-led measurement activities in enabling better policymaking, data-backed decisions, and improved internet infrastructure at regional and national levels. Following this, a highly interactive orientation session was conducted by Mr. Anupam Agrawal from IIFON, who discussed the AIORI Ambassadors program and upcoming hackathons designed to empower students, motivating participants by highlighting opportunities to contribute to documentation, collaborative internet engineering projects, and student-led research, encouraging students to take ownership of their learning and become contributors to open internet development rather than passive consumers. A noteworthy part of the workshop was the special session by Mr. Abhishek Chaubey from NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India), whose discussion allowed participants to understand how Internet Exchange Points function, how domestic traffic routing impacts performance, and why transparent, efficient routing is essential for India’s digital growth, explaining how measurement devices and regional benchmarking efforts help strengthen local internet ecosystems, improve routing efficiency, and support digital services at scale. The day progressed into another major technical session by Mr. Anand Raje, during which he demonstrated AIORI Anchors, showcasing the specific role these devices will play in real-world measurements, walking participants through the technical functionalities of the Raspberry Pi measurement nodes, explaining data collection, processing, and interpretation, and giving a practical demonstration of the AIORI dashboards. This session created a strong sense of engagement, with students gaining first-hand exposure to how measurement data becomes actionable intelligence used by ISPs, researchers, policymakers, and infrastructure developers, expressing keen interest in hosting anchors, contributing to datasets, and exploring new measurement avenues. The workshop concluded with a reflective closing session and certificate distribution ceremony. The event’s SPOC expressed gratitude to the distinguished speakers, participants, and the university’s faculty, highlighting the students’ enthusiasm and AIORI’s commitment to building a more transparent, measurable, and efficient internet ecosystem for India. At the heart of this workshop was a powerful mission: to educate young engineers about Internet Standards and empower them to take part in building India’s digital future, with the integration of Raspberry Pi devices as AIORI Anchors becoming a defining feature of the event, contributing to AIORI’s national observability network, collecting real data related to latency patterns, routing anomalies, domain resolution, and connectivity variations across regions, ensuring students not only learn from these devices but also directly contribute to India’s digital measurement landscape. As an Associate Partner, we, Internet Society – India Kolkata Chapter are proud to have contributed to this meaningful initiative, with our support aligning with our dedication to fostering digital innovation, technical knowledge, and academic collaboration, reaffirming our commitment to helping build India’s next generation of internet researchers and engineering leaders. We extend heartfelt appreciation to AIORI, IIFON leadership, MeitY, NIXI, and Bennett University for creating a collaborative space where academic excellence meets national purpose. In essence, the AIORI Workshop at Bennett University was a transformative educational experience that inspired young minds, introduced them to the critical role of measurement and governance, and empowered them to join hands in strengthening India’s digital infrastructure. As an Associate Partner, we look forward to continuing our collaboration and contributing to more such impactful initiatives that support innovation, research, and a stronger digital India.
