About
James Kennedy
15 years at the centre of the global IP address ecosystem: operating multi-country networks, managing a hyperscale cloud estate, and heading the RIPE Registry.
15 years at the centre of the global IP address ecosystem: operating multi-country networks, managing a hyperscale cloud estate, and heading the RIPE Registry.
KIPA exists because IP address management has evolved far beyond a technical and operational function. Address space, both IPv4 and IPv6, is now a strategic asset with financial value, market dynamics, and governance implications that most organisations are not equipped to navigate.
I founded KIPA to bring the operational depth and strategic perspective I developed over fifteen years into an independent advisory practice. The goal is simple: help organisations treat their IP ecosystem with the rigour it now demands.
Operator, buyer at scale, registry, standard-setter. The full map of how number resources are governed, valued, and moved, now on one side of the table: yours.
Led the Internet Number Registry, the authoritative system of record for IP address allocations, assignments, and transfers across 76 countries and 20,000+ members. Oversaw registry operations, policy implementation, transfer processing, and compliance.
Part of AWS's global IP address management (IPAM) function: worldwide IPAM operations and acquisition analysis, optimising internal distribution and security collaboration across a hyperscale inventory of 132M+ public IPv4 addresses, plus the IPv6 estate alongside it.
Designed, implemented, and matured the IP address strategy function across Liberty Global's operating companies, managing a portfolio valued at over €1.25B across 13 countries including Virgin Media, Ziggo, Telenet, and UPC operations. Designed the governance framework, a twice-annual internal audit cadence, forecasting methodology, twice-yearly internal audit cycle, and IPv6 migration approach that delivered multi-million euro savings.
Where it started. Hands-on work with IP resource allocation, policy implementation, and member support: evaluated thousands of members' IP estates against RIPE policy, building the technical foundation that would inform every role since.
Beyond operational roles, I have been actively involved in shaping IP address policy and governance at the global level. I served as Co-Chair of the RIPE Address Policy Working Group (2021–2023), was twice elected to the ICANN ASO Address Council, the global body overseeing number policy across the five-RIR system, and co-chaired the RIPE Database Requirements Task Force. I co-authored RIPE-767, a policy document establishing data governance principles for the registry system, and authored RIPE policy proposal 2015-02, which in the words of the Address Policy WG chair collected the highest number of supporting voices ever recorded for a RIPE proposal.
Most organisations manage IP addresses reactively: by the time they're engaging brokers or panicking about IPv4 depletion, the optimal strategic window has already closed. KIPA brings FinOps-grade discipline to IP management: treating address space as a portfolio of strategic assets requiring governance, visibility, intelligent forecasting, and proactive market positioning. Engagements span every regional registry: RIPE, ARIN, APNIC, LACNIC, and AFRINIC, plus the national registries beneath them, JPNIC included.