A Roadmap to Global Connectivity for

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A Roadmap to Global Connectivity for African
Research and Education Community
Harald Holt UNU/GVU Nairobi December 2006
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AFUNET

• Open and joint initiative
• Collaborative effort by UNU, ITU and CERN
• Overall purpose
• reduce the digital divide for the African
  academic community via network and Internet
  connectivity
• cooperate, integrate, extend and build on ideas
  that work

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Mission

• Build and support network infrastructure and
  services to the education and research community
• Improve, develop national and transnational
  educational and research programmes.
• Feasibility to be tested via a pilot project
  initially including at least six countries
• cost-effective network connectivity and services
• meet the needs of academic users
• create conducive environment for inter-African
  and global collaboration

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Foundations

• Twenty years of EU experience through EARN and
  RARE in the past, and TERENA, DANTE, and CEENet
  at the present
• Replicated in Latin America and most of Asia
• Promoted in North Africa by EU and the IST
  related project EUMEDCONNECT

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The Framework
Motivation and Mission
Organization and Activities
Provisional Budget
Infrastructure
Policies and regulations
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AFUNET (African University Network)
Our contribution no 2

• Open and joint initiative
• Holistic approach
• Collaborative effort by AAU supported by UNU, ITU
  and CERN
• Bridge digital divide and consolidate efforts
• Campus (LAN)
• National (WAN) or NREN
• Pan-African or federate network (AFUNET)
• Regional networks (RREN) - a possible four-tier
  model

AFUNET
RREN
RREN
RREN
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Organization

• AFUNET Association
• Non profit legal entity
• Located in member country
• Members NRENs other stakeholders
• Working groups possibly future departments
• Hosted by pan-African organization (for example
  AAU)
• Five regional offices

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Objectives

• Establish infrastructure
• Promote collaboration between NRENs
• Collaborate with other organizations (e.g. CCIRN,
  TERENA, CEENet, and Intrenet2)
• Organize working parties for technical activities
  
• Capacity building
• Dissemination of know-how via workshops,
  conferences, and courses
• Coordinate project applications
• Develop joint education programmes

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Tentative budget profile
Income
Expenditures
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Policies and regulations

• AFUNET and its NREN members may
• Cooperate with ISPs, PNOs in developing
  Information Society infrastructure
• Open markets and promote principles of universal
  access and service
• Render know-how in creating national and
  international policies and strategies

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At the National Level (NREN)

• Copy AFUNET structure and funding model
• Members university (campus) and research
  networks
• Future development
• AFUNET prioritizes policies and strategies
• NREN prioritizes services and networks

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Conclusions

• AFUNT consolidates various initiatives and
  harmonizes different interests
• Tested concept
• Pilot phase
• Goes beyond connectivity
• NRENs are modern day extensions of the old
  academic communities enforcing organization and
  structure for sustainability
• User driven and cost effective
• Technology Leverage the reality and work on the
  future
• Promotes capacity building and a model that might
  be replicated at the national level