On 17 July 2025, Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology (RAIT) in Navi Mumbai, part of Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, hosted a transformative AIORI workshop aimed at enhancing awareness about Internet Standards, measurement practices, and the evolving digital infrastructure. This comprehensive event successfully bridged academic knowledge with real-world internet research, connecting students and faculty with experts on governance, performance measurement, and standardization. The day began with a warm welcome that emphasized the importance of understanding the internet’s underlying architecture and the value of active engagement in research, encouraging students to see themselves as future contributors to the digital ecosystem through industry, academia, and research body collaboration. The inaugural session was followed by a detailed technical discussion led by Mr. Anand Raje (Chair, Internet Society – India Kolkata Chapter). He elaborated on the mission of AIORI, highlighting the importance of network measurements—such as latency benchmarking, routing analysis, and packet loss monitoring—in improving internet performance. Mr. Raje introduced the “Raspberry Pi–based AIORI Anchors” as compact, powerful tools for collecting actionable data, demonstrating how these small devices contribute to a national observability framework vital for policy and optimization. Following this, a special session on the need for measurements in Internet Governance was conducted by Mr. Amitabh Singhal, who stressed that reliable data is critical for decision-making at national and institutional levels, ensuring adherence to standards and supporting digital policy development beyond purely technical analysis. Subsequently, Mr. Anupam Agrawal (Chair, IIFON) led a session dedicated to the “AIORI Ambassadors program” and hackathon orientation. He discussed how students and faculty can actively contribute to AIORI’s initiatives, participate in national hackathons, and engage in research-oriented tasks, emphasizing collaboration, innovation, and proactive participation in documentation and community awareness campaigns. Later in the day, Mr. Anand Raje returned for a practical technical session, demonstrating the setup, functioning, and data collection process of the Raspberry Pi measurement nodes, showing how distributed data is gathered, processed, and visualized through AIORI dashboards. This hands-on session highlighted the practical applications of theoretical knowledge and demonstrated how academic involvement contributes to national-scale infrastructure projects. Another key session focused on engagement with the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), led by Mr. Anupam Agrawal, offering insights into global standardization efforts and how participants can contribute to shaping protocols that govern the internet worldwide, bridging academic learning with international best practices. The workshop concluded with a reflective closing session and certificate distribution, acknowledging the participants’ contributions. The enthusiasm demonstrated throughout the day reaffirmed the impact of AIORI’s mission: to educate students about Internet Standards and empower them to take part in building the digital future. The deployment of AIORI Anchors symbolized the practical application of knowledge, giving students tangible tools to understand network behavior and contribute to a national research-grade framework that strengthens internet performance, policy, and accessibility. As an Associate Partner, Internet Society – India Kolkata Chapter takes immense pride in supporting this forward-looking initiative. Our involvement, guided by the Internet Society’s mission to advance open development and use of the Internet, aligns perfectly with AIORI’s goals of fostering technical capacity and open standards participation. We sincerely appreciate AIORI’s leadership, the India Internet Foundation, the distinguished speakers, and the faculty and students of Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology for making the workshop a resounding success. This transformative educational experience empowered students to bridge academic learning with real-world measurement, governance, and standardization initiatives, reaffirming our commitment to continuing collaboration with AIORI to strengthen the digital ecosystem through research, innovation, and community-driven participation
