APRICOT's History
1996 to 2001
In 1995, David Conrad, at the time the Director General of APNIC, saw the early operator groups taking place with great success in the US. NANOG was newly launched (the commercial version of Joint Techs) and was aimed at the North American ISP market; the rest of the world had no equivalent.
David suggested that the Asia & Pacific region should have its own Internet technical operations conference. Barry Greene, then working for SingTel, convinced SingTel to support the event, and Harish Pillay persuaded the Singapore Computer Society to sponsor the first meeting at the RELC Centre in Singapore.
With venue, Internet connectivity, and sponsorship assured, a team of volunteers constructed the terminal room, and Digital paid for the catering, the first ever APRICOT took place in January 1996. The first APRICOT social event was a visit to the Singapore Night Safari.
Building on the success of the first event, subsequent APRICOTs in 1997, 1998 and 1999 were operated on the similar volunteer model.
APRICOT 2000 and 2001 expanded the scope of the event, with other AP organisations recognising its status as an Internet summit. APRICOT had matured, and was more than just a network operators meeting of its early years.
APRICOT 2001 in Kuala Lumpur saw the first ever hands-on technical training to take place at APRICOT, with a single 5 day workshop modeled on the then defunct Internet Society Network Training Workshops that had been successfully run in the 1990s (with the last one in Yokohama in 2000). This workshop, teaching deployment and operational best practices for ISPs and IXPs, set the model for the hands-on training that APRICOT has offered ever since.
The early 2000s: APRICOT and APIA
In September 2002, the APRICOT Executive Committee and the APIA Board agreed that APIA and APRICOT needed to work more closely together. And as from March 2003, APIA became the legal entity supporting the APRICOT conference effort. APRICOT became APIA's main activity, with new Board members from the international operations community and the APRICOT volunteer pool working to ensure the future development and growth of APRICOT.
The revised organisation saw the APIA Board responsible for the legal entity which supports APRICOT. A new APRICOT Management Committee replaced the Executive Committee and took on the day to day role of event organisation in partnership with the local host. A new APRICOT Programme Committee introduced a more scalable structure of programme development than the earlier per session volunteer model.
2005 to 2016
APRICOT continued its development, with a stronger partnership with APNIC, one of its early co-founders, and with a dedicated Secretariat provided by PIKOM in Malaysia. APRICOT hosts bid for the privilege of hosting the event, and this saw the event move to never visited before locations in the region, as well as cementing its natural home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
By 2010 APRICOT had become the foremost Internet Summit in the Asia Pacific region, holding a conference seeing participation from around the world, and participation by many of the Asia Pacific region's Internet organisations. It also had developed a strong fellowship programme ensuring that participants from the least developed nations could participate in the summit.
By 2013, APIA Ltd was no longer able to operate in the Seychelles while maintaining banking facilties in the region, so Asia Pacific Internet Association Pty Ltd was established in Australia. APIA was reformed as a Special Committee in the by-laws of the new Australian company, allowing it to continue in its current form with Directors and Members, while the company provided the legal and financial umbrella.
In 2014 APIA and APNIC agreed to coordinate the location of their respective conferences so that each of the Asia Pacific's four sub-regions gets an equal opportunity to host their respective events.
2016 to 2019
Following the conclusion of APRICOT 2016, APRICOT embarked on a new model of taking on the financial responsibility for operating the event, removing the last big barrier that potential hosts of the event had to surmount. APRICOT 2017 was the first event wholly undertaken by APRICOT, in partnership with its host. Hosts no longer bid for the event, meaning the APRICOT Board has greater flexibility to partner with organisations who may not have the financial wherewithal to support the event on their own.
In 2017, the APIA Board agreed to rebrand the APIA Special Committee as APRICOT in recognition of the primary activity of APIA. The Australian proprietary limited company (Asia Pacific Internet Association Pty Ltd) remained the legal and financial entity supporting APRICOT. The APIA Board became the APRICOT Board, and APIA Members became APRICOT Members.
2019 to 2023
In February 2018, the APRICOT Board agreed to transition the supporting organisation for APRICOT to a non-profit entity, limited by guarantee. The Asia Pacific Network Operators Group Ltd (APNOG) is that entity and assumed responsibility for APRICOT from 1st July 2019. The APRICOT Board transitioned to the APNOG Board and the APRICOT Members transitioned to APNOG Supporters.
During the pandemic, APRICOT 2021 and APRICOT 2022 were held on-line only due to travel restrictions, with the APNOG Board keen to ensure continuity. The 2021 and 2022 hosts were the planned hosts for the in-person event once the pandemic restrictions had ended.
2024 to date
The APRICOT Summit continues to be the premier Internet Operations and Technologies networking event in the Asia Pacific region, with the APNOG Board overseeing the production of each Summit.
APRICOT 2024 saw the introduction of a completely new 3-day hands-on training activity, the APRICOT MasterClass, replacing the long running 5-day workshops first introduced in 2001. The MasterClass is advanced operational best practice training from experts in their field, providing a unique perspective on day-to-day Internet operations from their considerable personal experiences. The APRICOT Fellowship was modified to suit this new endeavour, targetting up and coming network and systems engineers seeking deeper understanding and experience for both their careers and their domestic industry.
In 2025, as part of the bootstrap process of APNOG, a path to membership of APNOG was introduced for the long term supporters and active contributors to the APRICOT Summit, as per APNOG's Constitution. The APNOG Board hopes this will help strengthen the APRICOT brand further as well as providing continuity and an opportunity for the long term supporters and contributors to guide APRICOT's future, as APRICOT carries on its mission around the Asia Pacific region.
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Page last updated on Tuesday, 29-Jul-2025 16:35:05 AEST.