Raouf Boutaba is a University Professor and Director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Network Intelligence (2025–2032) and is the Inaugural Rogers Research Chair in Network Automation (2024–2029); he previously held the title of University Research Chair (2018–2025). He served as Associate Dean Research (2016–2019) and as founding Associate Dean Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2019–2020) of the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Boutaba held an INRIA International Chair in Network Softwarization (2017–2022), and has held several visiting professor positions, including at the University of Toronto, Canada; the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), South Korea; Sorbonne Université (formerly Université Pierre et Marie Curie); Telecom ParisTech (Paris Institute of Technology); Université Paris Descartes (now University of Paris Cité), France; the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil; and the University of Bordeaux, France. Dr. Boutaba received the Bachelor’s degree from Badji Mokhtar Annaba University, Algeria (1988), an M.Sc. degree from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (now Sorbonne Université), France (1990), a Magister degree from Annaba University in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, Scotland (1993), and a Ph.D. degree from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (1994), all in Computer Science.
Dr. Boutaba’s primary research interests are in the areas of network and service management. His current research projects include AI-driven 5G/6G network slice management and orchestration, application of machine learning to cybersecurity, network virtualization, network function virtualization, software-defined networks, cloud computing, future Internet architecture, and blockchains. Dr. Boutaba has published more than 500 papers in world-leading conferences and journals, received more than 20 best paper awards, and holds 15 patents. He served as a Distinguished Speaker of the IEEE Communications Society (2005–2010) and the IEEE Computer Society (2002–2004), and has given numerous keynote and invited talks at conferences worldwide.
Dr. Boutaba was Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (2018–2021) and is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management (2007–2010). He has been an editor, editorial board member, and special-issue guest editor of several leading journals in networks and communications, including the IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, the IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, Elsevier Computer Networks, Computer Communications, and Vehicular Communications, the Springer Journal of Network and Systems Management, and the Springer Journal of Internet Services and Applications, among others. He chairs the steering committees of the flagship IEEE conferences in network and service management — the IFIP/IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Network and Service Management (IM, 2001–present), the IEEE/IFIP Network Operations and Management Symposium (NOMS, 2001–present), and the IEEE/ACM/IFIP International Conference on Network and Service Management (CNSM, 2010–present) — and is a steering committee member of several other conferences, including the IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies (ICBC, founding member, 2018–present). Over the years, he has served in various capacities on the organizing and technical program committees of numerous conferences, including INFOCOM, ICDCS, Networking, IM, NOMS, CNSM, NetSoft, ICC, GLOBECOM, and CloudNet.
Dr. Boutaba is an active member of the IEEE Communications Society and has held several offices, notably Chair of the Awards Standing Committee (2026–2027), Member of the Awards Committee (2020–2022), founding Executive Committee member and Chair of the Publication Committee of the IEEE Blockchain Initiative (2018–2020), Lead of the IEEE Communications Society Software-Defined Networks Initiative (2018–2020), Director of Magazines (2016–2017), Director of the Conference Publications Board (2008–2010), Director of the Society Relations Board (2006–2008), and founding Director of the Standards Board (2005–2006), among others. He has held leadership positions in several IEEE Communications Society technical committees, notably the Technical Committee on Information Infrastructure (Program Chair 2002–2003; Vice Chair 2004–2005; Chair 2006–2010), and was the founding Chair of the Technical Committee on Autonomic Communications in 2006. He is also active locally as Chair of the Kitchener-Waterloo IEEE Communications Chapter since 2005, and was previously Chair of the joint IEEE Communications and Vehicular Technology chapter (2002–2005) and the joint IEEE Computer, Communications and Vehicular Technology chapter (2000–2002). Dr. Boutaba contributes to the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP): he served as Chair of Working Group 6.6 on Network and Distributed Systems Management (2001–2007) and serves as the Canadian National Delegate to the IFIP Technical Committee on Communications Systems (TC6) since 2012.
Dr. Boutaba has received numerous international, national, and university recognitions for his scholarly contributions and service to the scientific community. In recognition of his pioneering contributions to network management and network virtualization, he has been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2019), a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (2015), a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (2013), and a Fellow of the IEEE (2012). He is the recipient of the 2014 McNaughton Gold Medal — IEEE Canada’s highest honour awarded to outstanding Canadian engineers — the 2016 IEEE Communications Society Technical Achievement Award for his contribution to data communication infrastructure and network management, and the 2009 Dan Stokesberry Award recognizing distinguished technical contributions to the network management field. Dr. Boutaba received the Premier’s Research Excellence Award (Ontario) in 2000, the NSERC Discovery Accelerator Award in 2009, and the Department of National Defence DND/NSERC Discovery Award in 2019. His research has also been recognized by industry partners, including the IBM Faculty Award (2013), the Google Faculty Research Award (2011), and Nortel awards for Research Excellence (2004) and Leadership Excellence in Technology Transfer (2005). His service to the scientific community has been recognized through several awards, including the IFIP Silver Core (2007), the IEEE Communications Society Harold Sobol Award (2007), the IEEE Communications Society Joseph LoCicero Publications Award (2009), the IEEE Communications Society Salah Aidarous Award (2012), and the IEEE Communications Society Donald W. McLellan Meritorious Service Award (2016). For his outstanding achievements at the University of Waterloo, Dr. Boutaba has received the Faculty of Mathematics Fellowship (2003–2005), the David R. Cheriton Faculty Fellowship (2007–2009 and 2012–2014), the title of University Professor (2024), the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision (2024), and Outstanding Performance Awards (2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2021, 2024).