Session Date/Time: 25 Jul 2025 07:30

gaia

Summary

The Gaia session at IETF 123 featured three presentations focused on innovative approaches to internet access and infrastructure, particularly in underserved communities. The presentations covered a local platform-as-a-service solution in Uganda (Crane Cloud), a decentralized DNS system for community networks (Sig Zero Name Control), and efforts to measure connectivity performance in rural regions, with a focus on integrating social and technical aspects.

Key Discussion Points

Crane Cloud (Alex):
- Addressed challenges of cloud service access in resource-constrained environments like Africa.
- Presented Crane Cloud as a local, vendor-independent platform-as-a-service for application deployment and data management.
- Highlighted its use as an educational platform for DevOps, cloud computing, and showcasing student work.
- Discussed the architecture of Crane Cloud, based on microservices and supporting integration with various cloud providers.
- Showcased the platform's growth to over a thousand users and its support for various workloads, including AI/ML.
- Alex is interested in working with users in other geographic areas beyond Uganda.
Sig Zero Name Control (Adam):
- Introduced Sig Zero Name Control, a project designed to facilitate services within community networks using DNS and DNSSEC.
- Explained how it allows strong access control to altering the DNS system, empowering community members to publish and find local resources.
- Emphasized its low resource requirements and potential for integration with existing services and open-source routers.
- Described the architecture, including browser applications, command-line tools, and the process for requesting new subdomains.
- Presented GUI applications for domain management, service discovery, and collaborative mapping using DNS LOC records.
Connectivity Performance Measurement for Rural Regions (Ritu):
- Focused on the challenges of measuring internet connectivity performance in rural areas and the need to integrate social and technical factors.
- Discussed the limitations of existing measurement tools in capturing user-centric aspects and the specific needs of small operators.
- Highlighted the importance of accurate measurement for improving connectivity, informing policy, and empowering users.
- Outlined an approach that is context-sensitive, technically feasible, user-centric, and actionable.
- Described the goal of creating an affordable and easily deployable measurement tool for small operators to improve their service.
- Ritu requested help in using the framework by other network operators.

Decisions and Action Items

Action Item: Ritu will share her email address in the chat for individuals interested in participating in case studies or using the connectivity measurement framework.
Action Item: Jane will connect Ritu with members of the local broadband mapping community in the US.
Adam will investigate NSEC3 to prevent zone walking and privacy issues.

Next Steps

Crane Cloud: Continue to expand the platform's reach, particularly within Africa.
Sig Zero Name Control: Implement the new DNSSEC standards (RFC 9644 and 9655) and incorporate the system into OpenWRT router images.
Connectivity Performance Measurement: Seek case studies and collaboration with network operators to test and refine the measurement framework.