5 minutes with Prof. Wang, Chairman of APAN

Jilong Wang

Glad to be interviewed by APAN! By 2021, I participated in the work of NREN for 25 years and APAN for 20 years. Quite honestly, this interview is of great significance to me.

In 1996, I began to participate in the work of CERNET when I was a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at Tsinghua University. I started as a duty NOC engineer and experienced the development of the Internet in China. In 2000, I started to work for Tsinghua University after obtaining my PH.D degree. I was promoted to associate professor in 2003 and promoted to professor in 2010. I have been mainly engaged in the research of Internet architecture, cyberspace mapping, cyberspace governance and network application technology. Some research works were shared at APAN meetings. In 2020, as the project PI, I jointly undertook an international collaboration project in the field of cyberspace governance with 23 research institutions in 14 countries, of which 8 institutions are APAN member organizations. Over the past 20 years, I have been committed to the development of education and research network. Moreover, I also some hobbies after work. I have been practicing Chinese Kung Fu and like Game of Go since I was very young, but it feels like a long time has passed. My work is so busy now, and I have less spare time activities. However, I enjoy taking the high-speed railway when I am on a business trip and watching a variety of life from the window. Holidays are good time for me to cook for my family and watch movies from the TV.

Since 2004, I have served as the director of CERNET2 NOC and since 2005, TEIN NOC director. Since 2021, I have been responsible for the operation and management of CERNET. Currently, I am responsible for the construction of the Future Internet Technology Infrastructure-FITI as the chief technology officer. In addition, I have extensive collaboration with the industry, participated in launching several industrial alliances. At present, I am also the company director of the major telecom enterprise in China - CITIC Network.

My connection with APAN goes back to 20 years ago. I have known about APAN since its inception in the 1990s, when I was still a PhD student in computer science. In the spring of 2001, I participated in my first APAN meeting as a representative of CERNET. Since then, I began to participate in the relevant work of APAN. Twice a year APAN meetings provide an international platform for collaboration and sharing for experts, scholars and researchers in the Asia Pacific region and even the world. I have also taken these opportunities to share reports related to IPv6 network engineering. Later, as vice chairman of backbone Committee, I had carried out more in-depth technical cooperation and shared technical experiences with partners from different countries. In 2017, APAN44 was held in Dalian, China. As the local chair, I was responsible for the organization of the meeting, which was also a valuable experience for me. Shortly afterward, I joined APAN board in 2017. With the support from the APAN colleagues, partners and friends, I was honored to be elected APAN chair at APAN48 meeting in 2019. It has been two years until now, and I always hope to gather with you all to promote the development of education and scientific research network in the Asia Pacific region. This is my story with APAN in the past 20 years, and it is also a valuable asset in my life.

APAN as a network technology organization, also attaches importance to application development and human training. In particular, APAN plays an important role in promoting the construction of academic network infrastructure and collaborative innovation of information technology in the Asia Pacific region. At the same time, APAN also has its own development limitations and needs to make reforms according to the development of the times. Only by realizing its own improvement can it better promote the development and cooperation of international education and research network. Thus, I would like to take this opportunity to make some suggestions:

1. Strengthen the construction of APAN full-time staff team. APAN’s current activities organization mainly rely on the contribution from volunteers, there are very few full-time personnel, and the mobility of volunteers means that there will be great limitations for a bigger management system.

2. Strengthen the influence and service construction of cyberspace. As an important education and research network organization in the Asia Pacific region, APAN are facing the problem of transformation in the network era. In addition to reforming traditional offline activities, we need more innovative measures of "Internet style" to march into cyberspace and organize online Science and Technology Expo and Academic Lecture Hall.

3. Strengthen exchanges and collaboration between APAN and industries. In reality, due to different directions and purposes, there will be clear boundaries and even obvious gaps between academia and industry, but the revolutionary improvement of productivity can be realized through the benign interaction and cycle between academia and industry. Therefore, a mechanism needs to be adopted to enhance the interaction between the two sides. APAN need to set up an institution to undertake relevant work.

4. Promote collaboration in network management and governance among countries in the Asia Pacific region at the ideological and conceptual level. Although the Internet emphasizes openness and interconnection, it is basically isolated from each other in terms of network management and governance. Over the past few decades, the collaborative model between different management domains has made little progress, that is, from mutual email to mutual Wechat. Our partners may hope to strengthen the coordination of APAN countries/economies in Internet management and governance to the greatest extent. Any progress in this regard will greatly improve the efficiency of the whole Internet governance.

Since 1996, APAN has experienced its glorious years. Today, the Internet is experiencing a global scientific and technological revolution. There is a proverb that "Opening an egg from the inside is a new life, and breaking it from the outside is food." APAN, as the only and most influential education and research network technology and application academic organization in the Asia Pacific region, should also keep up with the trend of the times and actively optimize the structure.

I would like to take this opportunity to send my heartfelt wishes to APAN and all APAN partners again. I also look forward to seeing more further joint collaborations with international partners to promote the interconnection, sharing and governance of NRENs in the future!