A few days ago, CNNIC formally opened the official website of Asia Pacific Internet Research Alliance (APIRA). People may inquire about the organization and the statistical information about the Internet development of Asia Pacific region and even that of the whole world.

APIRA was launched by CNNIC and was founded on September 27, 2003. APRIA is a spontaneously organized and non-profit organization. It is a regional academic organization that focuses on enhancing communication and comparison in Asia-Pacific region on the Internet information, deepening the research on statistical techniques of the Internet information, facilitating the cooperation among Asia-Pacific countries and regions on the Internet information survey and boosting the regional development of the Internet researches.

The initial member organizations of APIRA are China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), Korea Network Information Center (KRNIC), City University of Hong Kong, University of Macao and Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC).  At the end of each year, all the APIRA members will conduct a statistical survey on local Internet development situation in a same period of time, using comparable survey method and questionnaire. APIRA member meeting will be held once a year, on which member organizations will make presentations, sharing their new techniques and research achievements, discussing on newly emerged technologies and phenomenon. Participants will also jointly research on methodologies of Internet information statistics and layout working plans of the coming year.

The APIRA 2004 Member Meeting will be held in Hong Kong and Macao from August 19 to 20, 2004. City University of Hong Kong and University of Macao will jointly host the two days’ meeting. APIRA member meeting is an open-to-public symposium and is free to attend. The APIRA secretariat is now calling for papers.

APIRA will continuously put efforts to encourage other countries and regions in AP region to join the alliance, expanding the team and promoting its impact in the global statistics community. The alliance is devoted to decrease differences of statistical technique and information among countries and regions in AP region. The APIRA website will become a favorable communication platform for Asia Pacific statistic community.