APRICOT Operational Structure

The annual APRICOT conference is put together largely by the efforts of the many volunteers who, together with the local hosts, work to ensure the continuity of the event. To ensure that each conference is organised as efficiently and effectively as possible, the responsibilities and functions have been alloted to particular groups of volunteers.

APRICOT Advisory Committee

The APRICOT Advisory Committee (or AC) is the wider group of volunteers and stakeholders in the Asia Pacific region who provide advice and direction for the APRICOT conference. The other committees working with APRICOT are basically subsets of the AC.

The position of Chair of the AC is rotated every year, with a representative of the APRICOT local host taking on the position of AC chair at the close of the APRICOT conference.

The AC Chair until end of February 2007 is Gavin Tweedie representing the APRICOT 2006 hosts.

APRICOT Management Committee

The APRICOT Management Committee (or MC) is a group of more dedicated individuals who are responsible for the day to day organisation of the APRICOT conference. They work closely with the local host and the host's local organising committee to ensure that all aspects of the conference are progressing, provide advice on APRICOT best practices, and help with tuning the programme and venue needs.

The members of the APRICOT MC are drawn from the APRICOT AC mentioned earlier. They are members of the AC who are able to contribute a significant portion of their time and energy to the ongoing success of the APRICOT conference.

The APRICOT MC is also responsible for the day to day operation of the APIA Secretariat. Most of this work includes providing direction and advice to the Secretariat.

The Chair of the MC is Philip Smith; the co-chair of the MC is Suresh Ramasubramanian.

APRICOT Programme Comittee

The Programme Committee (or PC) is responsible for putting together the APRICOT programme on an annual basis. The committee is a small group of volunteers from the Asia Pacific region who contribute the time and energy, as well as being interested in ensuring the integrity and consistency of APRICOT's operational and technology focus.

The PC works with the local host and the host's organising committee to tailor the programme of each APRICOT conference. Within the conference are several streams, and these stream organisers work with the PC to pull together the content for their stream (be they workshop, tutorial, APNIC, or individual conference tracks). Overall conference content and direction is determined by the PC as a whole. More info about the PC's activities can be found at the Programme Management website.

The Chair of the PC is Gaurab Raj Upadhaya.

APRICOT Fellowship Committee

APRICOT has a fellowship programme whereby some of the conference sponsorship funding it used to provide assistance to attendees from less developed economies to come and attend APRICOT and hopefully bring some of their newly acquired knowledge and contacts back home. Annually APRICOT is able to support accommodation and attendance fees for some 30 to 40 attendees.

The Fellowship Committee (FC) is made up of a few volunteers (drawn from the AC) who work with the chairs to determine which of the applications for financial support are to be followed through. They also work with the local host on obtaining funding to support the Fellowship Programme.

The Chair of the FC is Suresh Ramasubramanian; the co-chair of the FC is Tom Vest.

APIA Board

The APIA Board has the final and overall responsibility for APRICOT. The APIA website has more information about APIA, APIA membership, the Secretariat, and APIA's function.

The APRICOT AC basically provides guidance to the APIA Board as to the direction APRICOT should be taking, the future venue choices, and on the other operational matters pertaining to the conference. However, as the Board is responsible for the viability and financial stability of APRICOT, all final decisions rest with the Board itself.

As part of their commitment to APRICOT, all APIA Board members actively participate in the APRICOT Management Committee. Some members also assist with the work of the Programme and Fellowship Committees.

The Chair of the Board is Gaurab Raj Upadhaya; the vice-Chair is Ole Jacobsen.

Joining the APRICOT Volunteers

Anyone wishing to join in the support of APRICOT as a volunteer should send a message to the APRICOT Management Committee. The message should containt details on what activity is being volunteered, levels of expertise, and prior experience. Reference to existing AC members would be helpful.

Contacting APRICOT Committee Chairs

If you want to make contact with the chairs of the various committees above, please send a message stating the name of the person you want to contact.