RIPE hostmasters visiting LIRs

Dear all,

I believe this thread never really came to an end.

We have been thinking long about how to address the distance that is
perceived
as separating the RIPE NCC registration services from everyday 
operations of ISPs.

We have considered the proposed idea of having RIPE NCC hostmasters 
visiting ISPs to get in touch with their daily operations and needs.

The preceding mails have raised the issues of how to select the LIRs to be 
visited, the finance implications of having the hostmasters travel to 
these ISP locations, the potential danger of lobbying and whether those 
visits should be used as a mechanism for helping ISPs in auditing 
processes.

To these, I would like to add the potential disruptions to 
operations that these visits may have for the Registration Services
department.

Now, financial issues could definitely be resolved in agreement with the 
membership.

The potential for lobbying is a worrisome prospect, not because I fear
that 
anyone would actually even think about it, but because should any 
allegations be raised it would be difficult to prove them wrong and in any 
case a certain damage would have been done.

Mainly because of this, I would rather not have RIPE NCC hostmasters visit 
individual members.

However, we do acknowledge the need for hostmasters to be more up to date
with 
developments in the industry and the fact that it would be very benefitial 
to increase awareness of daily ISP operations within Registration
Services.

To address this, and some other internal issues, we will be hiring for a
new position within the RIPE NCC 
with the specific function of providing internal technical advise and 
training that will enable us to better track developments and be more 
familiar with everyday operations.

This person, will not be routinely involved in the handling of member 
address requests and might be a good candidate to visit a few LIRs
selected 
randomly from different "pools" (big, small, different economic 
and regulatory environments,...) in the future.

I believe this solution can effectively address the concerns raised by
this 
discussion while minimizing the drawbacks of the solutions proposed so far 
and also has other benefits for the RIPE NCC.

Hope to hear from you,
Joao Damas
Head of external services
RIPE NCC