SERENESouth-South Exchange of Research and
Education Network ExperienceModels of how to build and manage a National Research & Education
Network (NREN)
Nimal RatnayakeCEO/CTO, Lanka Education and Research Network (LEARN), LK
with input from
George McLaughlin (APAN)
Michael Foley (GDLN/World Bank)
About SERENE● Multi-country exchanges between South Asian
and other countries through a blend of video-conferences, on-line discussions and face-to-face interactions
● Specifically aimed at helping to develop policy, strategy for establishing NRENs in
– Afghanistan
– Bangladesh
– Bhutan
– Nepal
About SERENE (ctd)● Exchanges drew on the experiences of South
Asian and other countries as well as of individual experts worldwide
● An action-learning program consisting of– virtual dialogues
– video conferences
– knowledge exchange visits
– workshop for those responsible for developing and implementing policy & strategy
– technical workshop
Objective, Target Audience● Objectives
– To assist participants in developing guidelines/policy for building or enhancing NRENs in own countries
– to encourage cooperation and collaboration among South Asian NRENs
● Target Audience– Senior staff in Ministries of Education, Health,
Science and Technology, Communications
– Higher Education Authorities
– Universities
– Telecom Operators
Funding Source, Website● Funding Source
– South-South Experience Exchange Trust Fund (SEETF) administered by the World Bank
– SEETF is a multidonor funding source
– The donor countries include Mexico, China, Denmark, UK and India
● Website: http://serene.learn.ac.lk– Hosted by LEARN
– events, resources, discussion forum, feedback
Program Team● Task team leader: Yoko Nagashima, SARHD, WB● Coordinator: Michael Foley, Senior consultant,
SARDE, WB● Resource persons:
– George McLaughlin, APAN
– Nimal Ratnayeke, LEARN, Sri Lanka.
– Juan Blazquez, (SARDE) Regional Coordinator for GDLN South Asia, WB
– Shalika Subasinghe, Events Manager, Sri Lanka Distance Learning Center Ltd. (affiliate of GDLN)
Key participants● Vice-Chancellors● Deputy Minister of Education● Secretaries of Departments of Education,
Science and Technology, and ICT● Chair of University Grants Commission● Head of University Research● Administrative staff from NRENs● Network engineers
VideoConf. topics, speakers● 1. Introduction and what is an NREN?:
– Michael Foley, with George McLaughlin and Nimal Ratnayake
● 2. The Case of VinaREN– Ta Ba Hung, Director NACESTI and VinaREN, Hanoi
– External connectivity (TEIN3) a catalyst for internal network development
● 3. Costing an NREN– Javed Khan, Kent State University
– Jim Williams, Indiana University
VideoConf. topics, speakers (ctd)● VC 4. The Case of PERN
– Anwar Amjad, Director PERN, HEC Islamabad
● VC 5. Using International Bandwidth Efficiently– Javed Khan , Kent State University
– George McLaughlin, APAN
● VC 6. The Case of HEAnet (Ireland)– Mike Norris, Chief Technical Officer, HEAnet, Dublin.
(by request of beneficiary countries)
● VC 7. Final closing session– Reports from the beneficiary countries on their
reports to government.
VideoConf. bridging● Video Conference 7 bridging was done by LEARN
– Used the TEIN3 Network Infrastructure
● “For us also this was the first VC experience through the TEIN link and its was fantastic” – Kishor Panth, NP
● “I was mesmerized at the clarity of the NREN and TEIN connected sites …... It was not only a great first for LEARN, but also a great first for South Asia knowledge exchange. ” - Michael Foley, GDLN/World Banks
Additional inputs to VCs● David West, Projects manager at DANTE, and
coordinator of the EC funded TEIN program, ● Jim Williams, Director of Indiana Universitiy’s
Global NOC, Chairman of Intenet2’s South Asia Special Interest Group (SIG), and implementer of National Science Foundation (NSF) grants for connecting South Asia countries to Internet2.
● Jocelyn Gerich, Program Coordinator, International Relations at Internet2, Michigan
Visit 1: Vietnam● Central Hydrometeriologocal Forecasting Centre
– Discussions on weather forecasting services
● National Hospital of Pedriatrics (NHP)– Videoconf. on Pediatric Cardiology with Hue Central
Hospital and Melbourne Royal Children Hospital.
● Reception by Vice-Minister Science & Technology● NASATI
– Presentation on VinaREN by Director General.
● Vietnam National University– multipoint e-learning and applications demonstrations
Visit 2: Thailand● Chulalongkorn Hospital Bangkok:
– Telemedicine application demonstration and discussion with users from the Faculty of Medicine.
● Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani– intERLab, TEIN3 HRD, CanalAVIST, GIS
● Science Park visit, Pathumthani.● UniNET/ThaiREN, Bangkok
– presentations and visit to UniNET NOC.
● ThaiSarn, Bangkok– visit to ThaiSarn NOC
Visit 3: Sri Lanka● Presentation on LEARN and discussion with Chair
University Grants Commission● Visit Sri Lanka Telecom Internet Data Centre● Visit University of Peradeniya and LEARN NOC● Discussions with Sri Lankan people involved in
how they engaged with the World Bank, lessons learned
● Ceremonial handover of router interface card
Policy workshop● Sri Lanka Distance Learning Center, Colombo.
February 1-2, 2010● Objective to provide an opportunity for the
study visit participants to review what they had learned from the country visits and to begin to formulate policy guidance notes on how to build and manage an NREN in their own countries
● Participants were formed into country teams and were guided through the process by the resource persons
Technical workshop● Hosted by PERN / HEC, Islamabad, Pakistan
– Three day workshop
● Introduction to HEC & PERN, Journey to PERN2, Challenges & Strategy - Anwar Amjad, Director
● Strategic Planning - Abdullah Fayyaz Chattha● PERN2 Network Infrastructure & Services -
Nazeer Hussein● PERN2 Low Level Design: Mr. Jawad Raza● Overview of Routing Implementation:
Mr. Jawad Raza
Technical workshop● Optical network transmission and its significance
in NREN - Itrat Rasool Quadri● PERN2 Optical network transmission :
Designing, Commissioning to Management -Itrat Rasool Quadri
● PERN2 Applications– Deployment of Video conferencing
– Digital Library
● Hosting & NOC Services - Mr. Abdullah Fayyaz Chattha/ Jawad Raza
Technical workshop - visits● National Center for Physics (NCP)● National University of Science and Technology
(NUST)● HEC Data Center, PERN2 NOC, HEC
videoconferencing rooms
Technical workshop - visits● National Center for Physics (NCP)● National University of Science and Technology
(NUST)● HEC Data Center, PERN2 NOC, HEC
videoconferencing rooms
Particpants' Evaluation● Summed up by Vice Chancellor, Kabul University
“One of the best knowledge exchanges I have ever attended. I can say that after participating in many before. It was wonderfully organized and the program was great and productive. We have learned quite a lot. Also it was wonderful to meet people from different countries in the region who normally we do not have a chance to meet. This is the most important part of the experience for me. On the technical side, I have learned quite a lot about NREN’s and the importance of one for Afghanistan. I have come to the conclusion that we need to develop an NREN and dedicate the resources to get it done with support from our government and the World Bank.”
Summary● This was an experiment● It took a huge amount of planning effort both
for program content and organisational logistics● Very positive feedback (but the proof of success
will be in the follow-up)● Future targets – Africa? Pacific Islands?
