Location: Bennett University, Greater Noida
Program: Advanced Internet Operations Research in India (AIORI)
Associated Partner: Internet Society – India Kolkata Chapter
On July 15, 2025, Bennett University in Greater Noida became a hub for technical innovation and national digital strategy. The university, situated at Plot Nos. 8 and 11 in TechZone 2, was the host of a successful and insightful workshop under the Advanced Internet Operations Research in India (AIORI) program which steers us towards the future. This event served as a critical confluence point, bringing together students, faculty, and leading internet technology experts for an entire day, who dedicated themselves to the profound importance of Internet Standards, sophisticated Internet Measurements, and the rapidly evolving landscape of India’s digital infrastructure. The workshop also reflected the broader academic engagement across the Greater Noida region, with institutions such as Sharda University, Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology, G.L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Lloyd Group of Institutions, IILM University, Gautam Buddha University, Amity University Greater Noida, Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology, Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology, Greater Noida Institute of Technology (GNIOT), JIMS Technical Campus, and others participating in various discussions around the future of India’s digital measurement ecosystem.
Setting the Stage: Beyond Conventional Engineering
The very first event of the intensive day was the inspirational address by the Dean of the School of Engineering at Bennett University. His opening speech was more than just a formality; it was a strong exhortation for students to broaden their minds beyond the established limits of their engineering curriculum. In particular, he went on to say that it is necessary to comprehend the world on deeper levels when we talk about the global internet ecosystem.
The Dean insisted on the utmost necessity of close cooperation of the university with the rest of the world by Internet Engineering. He argued that the most significant innovations of the future will not be the pure software developers’ work but the young professionals who will be knowledgeable and have an insightful understanding of protocols, routing dynamics, governance frameworks, and most importantly, internet measurement techniques. The day was characterized by a very focused and high-level atmosphere which was mostly due to this very inspiring communication.
Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for a Stronger Digital India
The opening session was elegantly succeeded by the inaugural addresses of three eminent personalities, emphasizing the collaborative multi-stakeholder nature of global internet governance: Mr. Anand Raje, Chair of the Internet Society – Kolkata Chapter; Mr. Anupam Agrawal from the India Internet Foundation (IIFON); and Dr. John Jose from the IEEE India Council (IAYPC). Their joint appearance emphasized the urgent need for collaboration among the academic, civil society, and technical communities for the country’s digital infrastructure to become resilient.
Each of them elaborated on the point that the internet is essentially a decentralized system, and thus it is very much dependent on uniform protocols, unvarying measurement, and well-organized governance. They indeed urged the students to digitally immerse themselves as members of the worldwide internet community, participate in the creation of open-source internet standards, and be the first to discover the groundbreaking, network engineering and digital research areas with a high potential of impact.
AIORI’s Core Mission: Building the National Observability Framework
The opening technical session was skillfully led by Mr. Anand Raje. He took the audience on a deep dive into AIORI’s national measurement initiatives and their overall objective. Mr. Raje explained that the Internet is technically operated on different complex layers, which are not visible even to a skilled user. He elaborated that making these live measurements of the network should be the first step if we want to know where the network will be slower or faster in a certain area, in India and also globally. These measurements include latency, routing behavior, DNS resolution speeds, and packet transfer patterns.
The main element of the initiative is the Raspberry Pi-based AIORI Anchors. Thin yet powerful, these nodes are carefully designed to be set up in educational institutions where they can be used as reliable sources to collect critical internet performance data. A total of 23 Pi Anchors were distributed across participating campuses, laying the foundation for a growing network of measurement points that will contribute to national-level observability.
Governance, Policy, and Academia’s Role
The workshop featured several essential sessions highlighting how technical operations intersect with governance and policy.
Ms. Amrita Choudhary, Director of the Cyber Café Association of India (CCAOI), delivered a special session on Internet Governance and the indispensable role of academia. Her lecture unveiled to the students the policy-level obligations that govern the digital ecosystem, elaborating that the internet is controlled through frameworks based on inclusiveness, accessibility, privacy, and data security. She emphasized the essential role of the academic world in not only educating students to become responsible digital citizens but also in providing governance models supported by their research and engagement in public debates.
Following this, Mr. Pradeep Verma, Scientist D at the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), offered valuable insights connecting national digital policy to its technical execution. He helped students understand how government-led initiatives pave the way for a robust and vibrant digital India environment. Mr. Verma highlighted that measurement activities driven by research facilitate better policymaking, allowing decisions to be grounded in evidence and enabling real improvements in the internet infrastructure at both local and national levels.
Routing, Efficiency, and Student Empowerment
A special topic session was delivered by Mr. Abhishek Chaubey from the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI). His talk gave attendees a clear technical understanding of the working of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), how performance is impacted by efficient domestic traffic routing, and why transparent routing is crucial for India’s digital growth. He also explained how measurement devices and regional benchmarking exercises strengthen local internet ecosystems, making routing more efficient and enabling digital services to scale.
After that, Mr. Anupam Agrawal from IIFON conducted an orientation session for the AIORI Ambassadors program and the forthcoming hackathons. With an engaging style, he emphasized the importance of technical documentation, collaborative engineering, and student-led research, prompting students to transition from being passive consumers to active contributors in the open internet development community.
Practical Deep Dive: The AIORI Anchor Demonstration
One of the major highlights of the day was Mr. Anand Raje’s live demonstration of AIORI Anchors. He illustrated the everyday role that these devices have in network measurements, guiding the audience through data collection, processing, and interpretation stages. Mr. Raje demonstrated the AIORI dashboards in a hands-on manner, showing how raw measurement data becomes actionable intelligence for ISPs, researchers, policymakers, and infrastructure developers.
The session provided students with an opportunity to directly engage with the measurement ecosystem, exposing them to real-world research practices and motivating them to explore new directions within the field of internet measurement.
2nd Regional Faculty Workshop – GREATER NOIDA
Held at Bennett University on 15 July 2025, the workshop engaged 25 faculty members from 13 engineering institutions. The event showcased the successful AIORI 2 Ambassador Program with the appointment of two AIORI Ambassadors: Tejaswi Khanna and Preeti Dubey. These trained faculty members successfully utilized their skills to conduct two national student workshops, significantly expanding the regional AIORI Measurement Network and ensuring continued growth in the area.
A Transformative Conclusion
The workshop ended with a closing session and the presentation of certificates.
The main objective was very evident: to inform young engineers about Internet Standards and empower them to become leaders who would actively participate in building India’s digital future.
The performance of the Raspberry Pis integrated as AIORI Anchors allowed students to contribute data on latency patterns, routing anomalies, domain resolution, and regional connectivity variations. Through this, students did not just learn from the devices—they directly contributed to India’s growing digital measurement landscape.
As an Associate Partner, the Internet Society – India Kolkata Chapter is proud to have supported this meaningful initiative, which aligns with our commitment to fostering digital innovation, technical knowledge, and academic collaboration. We thank AIORI, IIFON leadership, MeitY, NIXI, and Bennett University for creating a collaborative and impactful space where academic excellence meets national purpose.
The AIORI Workshop at Bennett University was a transformative educational experience that successfully inspired young minds, introduced them to the critical roles of measurement and governance, and empowered them to contribute to strengthening India’s digital infrastructure. We are excited to continue this collaboration and support more such initiatives.
