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Research and Education networks: Responding to the challenges of African Research
Regional Internet Development Dialogue-AfricaKigali,Rwanda,8-9May,2017
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Regional Internet Development Dialogue-Africa
Pascal Hoba, PhDCEO, Ubuntunet Alliance
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qIntroduction & Challenges on ICT infrastructureqHow RRENs & NRENs respond to the challenges of African
Research qWhat’s ubuntunet alliance actions?qBest PracticesqRecommendations
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OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION
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History: February 2005: AAU General assembly in Capt Town - Higher cost of Internet (Bandwidth)
- Inadequate infrastructure: In term of capacity and dedicated network for Higher Education and research institutions
- Poor quality of infrastructure of: Campus network, National Backbone infrastructure in many countries
Challenges that affect ICT infrastructure
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Necessity to mutualize resources…on campus level, national level and regional level
• Necessity to create adequate ICT infrastructure: national fiber infrastructure
• Necessity to create dedicated Network for connectivity
• Training on bandwidth management
• National, regional and international collaboration as solution of African research challenges
How RREN & NRENs responded to African Reseach Challenges
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• The regional Research andEducation Network of ESA region
• NRENs from 16 countries§ Eb@le, DRC § EthERNet, Ethiopia § iRENALA, Madagascar § KENET, Kenya § MAREN, Malawi § MoRENet, Mozambique § XNet, Namibia § RwEdNet, Rwanda § SomaliREN, Somalia § SudREN, Sudan § TENET, South Africa § TERNET, Tanzania § RENU, Uganda § ZAMREN, Zambia § BERNET, Burundi§ ZARNET Zimbabwe
WHATISUBUNTUNETALLIANCE?
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WHEREAREWENOW?- CURRENTNETWORK• 10 POPs in total
q8 in Alliance regionq2 in Europe (London and Amsterdam)
• Backbone covering 7 countries in ESA region• 2.18Gbps capacity between Africa PoPs and European PoPs
q2 links along the west coastq2 links on the eastern coast
• Some NRENs connecting directly to our European PoPsqKENET(Kenya) – (approx. 4 Gbps)qTENET(South Africa) – 2 x 10GbpsqMoRENet (Mozambique) – 1xSTM-1qTERNET (Tanzania) – 1xSTM-1
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ü Peering with GÉANT in London and Amsterdam• Transit to Research and Education community World-wide
ü Peering at London Internet exchange (LINX)ü Peering at Amsterdam Internet Exchange and (AMS-IX)ü Peering at NAPAfrica (Johannesburg)ü Transit to Internet at LINX and AMS-IX
Our current Network…
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Ubuntunet Alliance’s Network Topology
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• NationalResearchandEducationNetworks(NREN)typicallyprovideadvancedcongestion-freeinternetconnectivityandservicesdedicatedtosupporttheworkofuniversitiesandresearchinstitutesinacountry.
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WhatisanNREN?
• Vitaltoprogresslocalandglobaleducationandresearchbyprovidinge-learningande-scienceapplications(eg.telemedicine).
• Over100NRENsworldwide,33inAfrica.
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https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
NRENsareSDGenablers
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HowdoNRENsconnectstudentsandresearchers?
NRENB
RegionalREN
Universities
Researchcentres
HospitalsLaboratories
NRENA
NRENC
RegionalREN
RegionalREN
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• 2011– 2015:EUco-fundedAfricaConnectprojectbroughttolifethe1st sustainableregionalresearchandeducationnetworkinSub-SaharanAfrica,interconnecting7NRENsandconnectingtheregiontotherestoftheworldviatheEuropeanregionalnetwork
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WhatisthesituationinAfrica
SouthernandEasternAfricaDGDEVCOco-funding
2011-2015ubuntunet-map-latest-may2015.jpg
• Startedin2015:AfricaConnect2aimstobuildothersustainableregionalnetworksinAfricatocreateapan-Africannetworkfullyconnectedtotheglobalresearchandeducationnetwork.
Pan-AfricanDGDEVCOco-funding
Startedin2015
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WhataretheAfricanregionalpartnersinvolved?
• Theregionalapproachallowstoadapttothesizeofthecontinent(nearly3timesEurope)anditsexistingregionalspecificities(regulations,politicalintegration,language,stageofNRENdevelopment,etc.)inordertofacilitatethebuildingofaviablepan-Africannetwork.
• TheAfricaConnect2projectisself-inclusive,i.e.allinterestedandreadycountriesareinvitedtoparticipatetoexpandthenetwork.
• Interconnectionswilltakeplaceeitherviainternationalroutesand/ordirectroutesdependingoncostsandfunding.
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WhydoweneedtheseEUco-fundedprojects?
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Africaisstilltheleastconnectedcontinentontheplanet
Source:WorldBank
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Africainternetpenetrationhasmorethandoubledsince2011
Source:InternetWorldStats– 30June2016
13%
28.70%
2011 2016
x2.2
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+51%
Africainternetcapacitygrowthcontinuestoleadworld
Source:TeleGeography
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Source:NRENs
NRENs,Countries Capacitygrowth
Costdrop(perMb)
ZAMREN,Zambia2011/2015
X60 -94%
RENU, Uganda2012/ 2015
X8 -77%
ARN,Algeria2003 /2015
X55 -97%
Connectedcountriessharehigheconomiesofscale
BeforeandAfterconnectingtotheEU-fundednetwork
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ConnectedCountries (NRENs) Institutions(HigherEd&Research)
ASRENNorthAfrica 154Algeria(ARN) 124Egypt(EUN) 30
Ubuntunet Alliance 513Kenya(KENET) 180SouthAfrica(TENET) 86Mozambique(MoRENet) 83Uganda(RENU) 42Zambia(ZAMREN) 75Tanzania(TERNET) 27Rwanda(RwEdNet) 20
WACRENNetworkunderconstruction na
TOTAL2016 667
• Outof33existingAfricanNRENs,9areconnectingover650institutionstotheglobalresearchandeducationnetwork:
₋ training,developingandretaininglocaltalents₋ helpingtoconnectremoteusers₋ allowinginternationalresearchersandstudentsto
gainvaluableinputfromtheircolleaguesinAfrica
ConnectingAfricanresearchandeducationcommunities
Allthreeregionalnetworksarestillbeingdevelopedorconsolidated
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•Challenge:AgricultureisakeydriverofSub-Saharaneconomyandattheheartofthefoodsecuritychallenge.Onedifficultyisidentifyingsoilsthataresuitableforagriculture.
•Solution:UsetheAfricaConnectnetworktoaccess,processandmodelizesatellitemapstoidentifysoilpropertiesandclassifylands.
•Benefit: ProvideinputtosustainablelandmanagementinZambia.
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Enablingscientiststofeedtheworld
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HowdoNRENsconnectstudentsandresearchers?
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LinkingStudentsToTheGlobalCommunity
• Kenyattauniversityconnects70000studentsthankstoeduroam
• InZambia,over40000 canaccessdigitalresourcesonandoff-campusthankstoeduroam
• Freesecurewifi providedbyNRENsbetweencampuses.
• Aglobalnetworkofusersacross80countries.Over2billioninternationalauthenticationsandcounting
• 6AfricanNRENshavedeployededuroam
• 9areconductingpilots
A worldwide success story From its early beginnings 10 years ago as a joint venture between a few European universities to today –with millions of users in over 80 countries worldwide, eduroam has been an amazing success story and an example of research and education collaboration.
www.eduroam.org
eduroaminAfrica
Legend:Darkblue:eduroam;Lightblue:eduroam pilots
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National strategy on ICT infrastructuresAfrican Governments support to RENsDevelopment partners contributions: EUC, World Bank, SIDA, ADB, AUCPlatform for research collaborationCollaboration between African Higher Educations Institutions Global strategy on ICT integration
Recommendations
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ThankYouForYourAttentionMerciPourVotre Ecoute
Tolearnmorevisit:www.africaconnect2.net
Followuson:@AfricaConnect2
Formoreinformationabouttheprojectpartners:http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid
www.geant.orgwww.ubuntunet.netwww.wacren.netwww.asrenorg.net
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AfricanEarthObservationGroup
•Challenge: ensurescientists,regulatorsandtechnologyworktogethertotackleclimatechange.
•Solution:
•Benefit: speedupglobalresearchonclimatechange(incl.watermanagementandfoodsecurity)byallowingpan-Africanandinternationalexchangeofearthobservationdata.
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Enablingscientiststotackleclimatechange
supportedby
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LandpreservationinMorocco
•Challenge:AgadirprotectedUNESCOBiosphereReserveplaysakeypartinMorocco’sfruitandvegetablesexportBUTthelandisveryvulnerabletoman-madeandclimaticchanges.
•Solution: MoroccanandFrenchresearchershaveusedtheEumedconnectnetworktodownload,processandanalysesatelliteimagestoproducethematicmapsofthearea.
•Benefit: Monitorlandcover,waterresourcesortheprogressofnaturalhazards,whichcouldhavesocio-economicimpactontheregion.
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Enablingscientiststotackleclimatechange
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CancerResearchinNorthernAfrica
•Challenge: acureforcancerispossiblebutdependsonhowwellresearchersaresupportedandcanworktogether.
•Solution:ane-learningportal,TheEuMedCancer– GeMednetwork,deployedunderEumedconnect2allowedcancerresearchstudentsinNorthernAfricatogetspecialisttrainingandinteractwiththeirpeersinEurope.
•Benefits:₋ remotetraining,empoweringlocalstudents(over130)₋ internationalcollaborationcontributingtoglobalcancerresearch
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Enablingscientiststotacklecancer
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TreatmentofepilepsyinTunisia:
•Challenge: 50millionpeopleworldwidehaveepilepsy.Mostpeoplewithepilepsylivinginlow- andmiddle- incomecountriesdonotgetappropriatetreatment.
•Solution: Eumedconnect2allowedTunisiansurgeonstocollaborateremotelywiththeirFrenchcolleaguesusinge-telemedicineapplicationstodiagnoseandsurgicallytreatepilepsypatients.
•Benefit:₋ Morepatientsabletogetcorrectdiagnosisandtreatmentlocally,
preventingseizureoccurrences.₋ SurgeonsinTunisiacouldadvancetheirworkremotelysavingtime
andmoney.
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Enablingscientiststotackleepilepsy
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ThalassaemiaresearchinNorthernAfrica
•Challenge: Thalassaemiaisapotentiallylife-threateningaffectioncommonamongstpopulationsoriginatingfromtheEuropeanandtheNorthAfricanmarginsoftheMediterranean.
•Solution: EU-fundedITHANETproject(ElectronicinfrastructureforThalassaemiaResearchNetwork)usedtheEumedconnect2networktoallowresearchersinEuropeandNorthernAfricatoworktogethertoimprovediagnosis,treatmentanddrugs.
•Benefit: Hundredsofpeoplewereabletoreceivecorrectdiagnosisandappropriatetreatmentlocally.
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Enablingscientiststotackleregionaldiseases
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Funding
Tolearnmorevisit:www.africaconnect2.net
