Colleagues I would like to apologise for missing the DB-WG session at RIPE 85. I was taken ill the night before with severe gastric problems, which I have only recently recovered from. Now I am still recovering from covid also. I would like to thank my co-chair William for stepping in at the last minute to run the whole show. I have some comments to make on each presentation, but don't expect much from me this week. I will start to get my head round these issues again next week. cheers denis co-chair DB-Wg