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At the start of August, the NZIX team descended, once again, upon the Longroom in Auckland to host this year’s Annual General Meeting. The event was held as a hybrid meeting and we were delighted to see how many Members were able to attend via Zoom and in-person.

With a quorum comfortably met, and the minutes of the previous AGM accepted, Committee Chair, Dave Mill, welcomed everyone and commenced with the Chair’s Report. He outlined the agenda for the meeting, including some commentary on the change in rules being brought about by the New Societies Act, which is covered in more detail later.

He also outlined further changes to the society’s structure, with IAA stepping back from two, to just one seat, on the NZIX Committee from this year forward. This was an inevitable progression, as the NZIX matures and grows.

Our Treasurer Chris Browning was up next, reporting on the 2023/24 financial year. The NZIX remains in good financial order with $772k cash on hand and $363k profit before depreciation (up from $219k last year), giving a net profit of $255k for the year and an equity of $807k. We continue to operate with no loans or other debt. Our Auditor, Laura Addinall (LACA Limited), reported no significant findings or concerns, and the Financial Statements were approved and adopted.

Chris went on to outline the financial plans for the year, including the newly launched NZIX website, new NZ compute stack, Christchurch 40/100G ports and the business as usual of refreshing our technology to keep pace with Members’ needs. We also have budget for a new PoP and are on the lookout for a suitable location.

Peering engineer Matthew Kobayashi gave this year’s technical report, breaking down each IX and reporting on trends. We’re pleased to conclude that NZIX is in good shape with the number of peers holding steady and peak traffic increasing across the board, but most notably on the AKL-IX up to 705Gbit/s.

Another significant update was the work being done behind the scenes to upgrade the NZIX Portal. The new Portal is now live with a new payment gateway for automated recurring payments and improved network automation, for faster, more streamlined service delivery.

The Secretary’s Report, delivered by Jocelyn Bateman, provided an overview of our Membership which has seen a growth rate of 5.77% since 2022. Jocelyn highlighted the improvements made to our MSA urging Members to move across to the updated version, a move made easier by our updated Member Portal. New service orders will require accepting the new MSA, unless Members have a custom MSA, so if you have any questions feel free to reach out to us.

On the policy front, the NZIX Committee have been busy. In the last 12 months, NZIX reviewed its Peering Services Schedule, Acceptable Use Policy & Privacy Policy, with no changes made. An internal Risk Management plan has been put in place guided by previous audit recommendations and an Asset Management Policy was produced and approved. All of our policy documents can be found on the redesigned NZIX website’s document library.

This year an election proceeded for the NZIX Committee with three, four-year terms being available and one two-year term. We would like to congratulate Dave Mill, Chris Browning who renominated and will continue to take their seats as Chair and Treasurer, moving forward. We also welcome Shaun Fisher and Callum Barr taking up the remaining four-year term and two-year term respectively.

Thanks also to all nominees. The society cannot operate without skilled Members willing to volunteer their time to be a part of this organisation.

The meeting concluded with Dave and Jocelyn explaining changes being made to the NZIX Constitution. These changes have been triggered by the new Incorporated Societies Act. The New Act requires existing incorporated societies re-register under that Act by April 2026. If an existing society does not re-register by this deadline, it will cease to be ‘incorporated’ and will no longer have the benefits of incorporation. In such a case, the society’s Officers and Members will become personally liable for the obligations of the society.

The motion to register NZIX under the Incorporated Societies Act and update our Constitution was carried. The changes to our Constitution have now been adopted and you can find the latest version on our website’s document library.

Following the meeting, everyone at the Longroom enjoyed drinks and nibbles and it was a great opportunity for Members to catch-up and network. Thanks to all who were able to attend virtually and in-person. Member engagement is an important element of the NZIX.