diff --git a/src/bgp/attributes.rs b/src/bgp/attributes.rs
index ea9bb04..216b586 100644
--- a/src/bgp/attributes.rs
+++ b/src/bgp/attributes.rs
@@ -175,7 +175,6 @@ impl AsPath {
         self.segments.iter().map(AsPathSegment::count_asns).sum()
     }
 
-
     /// Construct AsPath from AS_PATH and AS4_PATH
     ///
     /// https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6793#section-4.2.3
diff --git a/src/bgp/elem.rs b/src/bgp/elem.rs
index 5736fcb..5e00920 100644
--- a/src/bgp/elem.rs
+++ b/src/bgp/elem.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use std::fmt::{Display, Formatter};
 use std::net::IpAddr;
+use std::str::FromStr;
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use crate::bgp::attributes::{AsPath, AtomicAggregate, Community, Origin};
 use crate::network::{Asn, NetworkPrefix};
@@ -38,6 +39,29 @@ pub struct BgpElem {
     pub aggr_asn: Option<Asn>,
     pub aggr_ip: Option<IpAddr>,
 }
+
+impl Default for BgpElem {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        BgpElem {
+            timestamp: 0.0,
+            elem_type: ElemType::ANNOUNCE,
+            peer_ip: IpAddr::from_str("0.0.0.0").unwrap(),
+            peer_asn: 0,
+            prefix: NetworkPrefix::from_str("0.0.0.0/0").unwrap(),
+            next_hop: None,
+            as_path: None,
+            origin_asns: None,
+            origin: None,
+            local_pref: None,
+            med: None,
+            communities: None,
+            atomic: None,
+            aggr_asn: None,
+            aggr_ip: None
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[inline(always)]
 pub fn option_to_string<T>(o: &Option<T>) -> String
     where
@@ -86,3 +110,22 @@ impl Display for BgpElem {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use std::str::FromStr;
+    use std::default::Default;
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_default() {
+        let elem = BgpElem{
+            timestamp: 0.0,
+            elem_type: ElemType::ANNOUNCE,
+            peer_ip: IpAddr::from_str("192.168.1.1").unwrap(),
+            peer_asn: 0,
+            prefix: NetworkPrefix::from_str("8.8.8.0/24").unwrap(),
+            ..Default::default()
+        };
+        dbg!(elem);
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/err.rs b/src/err.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2782e02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/err.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+use std::error::Error;
+use std::fmt::{Display, Formatter};
+use ipnetwork::IpNetworkError;
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub enum BgpModelsError {
+    PrefixParsingError(String),
+}
+
+impl Display for BgpModelsError {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        match self{
+            BgpModelsError::PrefixParsingError(msg) => {
+                write!(f, "cannot convert str to IP prefix: {}", msg)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Error for BgpModelsError{}
+
+impl From<IpNetworkError> for BgpModelsError {
+    fn from(err: IpNetworkError) -> Self {
+        BgpModelsError::PrefixParsingError(err.to_string())
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index aa42f26..cb36121 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ pub mod bgp;
 pub mod network;
 pub mod mrt;
 pub mod prelude;
+pub mod err;
 
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate enum_primitive_derive;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/network.rs b/src/network.rs
index 3f8ba69..396a8ac 100644
--- a/src/network.rs
+++ b/src/network.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 use std::fmt::{Display, Formatter};
 use std::net::{Ipv4Addr, Ipv6Addr};
+use std::str::FromStr;
 use ipnetwork::IpNetwork;
+use crate::err::BgpModelsError;
 
 /// Meta information for an address/prefix.
 ///
@@ -64,6 +66,20 @@ pub struct NetworkPrefix {
     pub path_id: u32,
 }
 
+impl FromStr for NetworkPrefix {
+    type Err = BgpModelsError;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        let prefix = IpNetwork::from_str(s)?;
+        Ok(
+            NetworkPrefix{
+                prefix,
+                path_id: 0,
+            }
+        )
+    }
+}
+
 impl NetworkPrefix {
     pub fn new(prefix: IpNetwork, path_id: u32) -> NetworkPrefix {
         NetworkPrefix { prefix, path_id }
diff --git a/src/prelude.rs b/src/prelude.rs
index e11e8d9..b23ebc8 100644
--- a/src/prelude.rs
+++ b/src/prelude.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 pub use crate::bgp::*;
 pub use crate::mrt::*;
-pub use crate::network::*;
\ No newline at end of file
+pub use crate::network::*;
+pub use crate::err::BgpModelsError;
\ No newline at end of file