The Internet Educational Equal Access Foundation IEEAF Global Quilt High speed links to Western Africa's coastal countries International Workshop on African Research

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The Internet Educational Equal Access
FoundationIEEAF Global QuiltHigh speed links
to Western Africa's coastal countriesInternation
al Workshop on African Research Education
NetworkingGeneva, SwitzerlandSeptember 25-27,
2005

• Dr. Donald R. Riley
• Chair, IEEAF (www.ieeaf.org)
• SURA IT Fellow
• Professor, Decision Information Technologies
• Robert H. Smith School of Business
• University of Maryland, College Park
• Tel [phone] Fax [phone]
• Home Office/Mobile [phone]
• drriley_at_umd.edu

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Extending High Bandwidth Performance Internet
Connectivity to the African Research and
Education Community
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Whats the real target? What are the important
strategic issues?

• Is it just about the Internet? Or Internet2?
  NGI?
• Are universities just consumers/customers?
• Or are universities the cornerstone of knowledge
  society and globalization? Of both the human
  infrastructure and economic development via new
  technology development and transfer?
• Are we aiming for the future?
• Or just for today or yesterday? In other words,
  to always be behind?

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Bandwidth Divide for Africa

• International Connectivity is poor
• Internet cost is very high
• Satellite access limits what can be undertaken
  because of latencies and asymmetrical
  characteristics (assumes Africa is user of, not
  generator of, new information)
• Significant barriers to access to information and
  resources, modern education, collaboration,
  research, funding opportunities
• Dedicated NRENs are few
• Internet2 access is almost non-existent
• Human infrastructure is not being developed at
  rate needed
• The gap is widening

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By all measures, Africa is behind
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Sample Bandwidth Costs for African Universities
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Trends in Internet Troughput
S.E. Europe, Russia catching up Latin Am., Mid
East, China keeping up India, Africa falling
behind
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Loss to Africa (example of variability)
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Africa Derived Throughput
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Round Trip Transmission Times
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Development and Spread of Internet2 (NGI)

• U.S. Internet2 effort launched in 1996
• Represents RD for Next Generation Internet
• Has become international development effort with
• International Partners in 43 Countries
• NRENs National Research and Education Networks
• Plus development of Regional Backbones (Europe
  with GEANT/DANTE, South America with CLARA, APAN
  in Asia Pacific)
• Represents significant economic development
  resource
• Not much happening in Africa

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Internet2 International Partners
Internet2 International Partner Organizations and
Networks Internet2 has formed peer-level
relationships with organizations outside the U.S.
who have projects similar to Internet2 in scope
and objectives. Internet2 currently partners with
over 40 of these international organizations and
networks.
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Map of International GLIF InitiativeGlobal
Lambda Integrated Facility
www.glif.is
Visualization courtesy of Bob Patterson, NCSA.
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Public-Private Partnership IEEAF

• The Internet Educational Equal Access Foundation
  (IEEAF) is a partnership between the Research and
  Education Community and the Private Sector whose
  goal is to obtain donations of international
  bandwidth to enable a global collaboration in
  research and education.
• Current donations have already linked US and
  Europe, and US and Asia-Pacific.
• This bandwidth helps enable global collaborations
  in research and education, in the true spirit of
  the Global Quilt Initiative.

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IEEAF Vision The Global Quilt

• A Network of Networks, stitched together to
  create a common single fabric, and shared equally
  by all. This will be achieved through
  collaboration and community effort, until it
  covers the globe.
• The IEEAF has no boundaries of home territory..

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IEEAF Global Quilt Initiative
7600 km
9300 km
10 Gbps l 622 Mbps
10 Gbps l 622 Mbps
17 Time Zones
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IEEAF Donation Summary

• 10 Gbps l (OC-192 wavelength) plus separate 622
  Mbps STM-1.
• New York - London - Groningen (Netherlands)
• Seattle - Tokyo
• Fiber pair from Tyco Cable Station Groningen to
  Amsterdam, and to Hamburg co-location facility
• Fiber pair Hamburg facility to 379
  Weinderstrasse carrier hotel, where German
  rings meet
• Fiber pair UK
• 8,000 miles of trans-USA fiber donated by ATT to
  the Southeastern Universities Research
  Association (SURA) as SURA-IEEAF partnership
• Submarine bandwidth under discussion
• To Lisbon
• UK-Bilbao-Madrid-Valencia-Barcelona-Marseilles
• To Copenhagen and St. Petersburg
• To Singapore, Thailand, India
• A new 10 gigabyte trans-Atlantic connectivity
  which GEO will use specifically for telemedicine
  and HEP initiatives.

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• More Donations Pending
• The IEEAF is currently in negotiations for
  multiple pending donations that if successfully
  concluded will double the size of the Global
  Quilt Initiative and span all time zones.
• Negotiations for donations are being supported by
  a global community of Research and Education
  Visionaries
• to Southeast Asia
• in Eastern Europe
• to Scandinavian/Nordic countries
• to Africa
• to India and South Asia

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Partnerships Create Donations

• Were here to help any community trying to
  establish educational networks
• Were successful because of the partnerships with
  leaders who share our vision
• Its the partnerships that make it happen.
  Joining hands completes the ring..
• A network of networks....
• Community to community and village to village...
• The Global Quilt

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IEEAF Partnership with WIDE

• Jun Murai, Keio University and WIDE Project
• Asset Steward of IEEAF Trans-Pacific Link from
  Seattle to Tokyo
• Established open Tokyo Lambda Exchange (T-LEx)
• Extending beyond Tokyo

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Thailand Regional Initiative Next Generation
Internet Announced by H.E.Dr. Surapong
Suebwonglee, Minister of ICT, ThailandJanuary
26, 2005
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SOI and WIDE
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NSF Funding for International Research Network
Connections (IRNC)

• NSF funding new links from U.S. to International
  RE Networks
• (2.5 to 10 Gbps lambdas)
• To Europe
• To Asia-Pacific
• To South America
• To China and Russia
• Nothing to Africa

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International Connectivity, Open RE Exchanges,
and International Peerings
N.America
Europe
Japan
S.America
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AtlanticWave linking US East Coast International
Exchanges

• IEEAF partnering with SURA, FIU-AMPATH-WHREN,
  MAX, SoX/SLR, Internet2/MANLAN, and the Academic
  Network of Sao Paulo (ANSP) to establish
  AtlanticWave
• AtlanticWave is an International Peering Fabric
  along the East Coast
• US, Canada, Europe, South America Plus.
• Distributed IP peering points
• NYC, WDC, ATL, MIA, SPB

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IEEAF and Africa

• May 2004 Asked by NSF if IEEAF techniques could
  work in Africa
• November 2005 In partnership with Internews,
  received small grant from NSF to do feasibility
  study and develop plan for Extending High
  Bandwidth Academic and Research Networking to
  Africa to support US-Africa research
  collaborations
• John Mack, J.L. Mack and Associates
• U.S. State Dept. (retired)
• George Sadowsky, Internews Network and Internet
  Society
• New York University (retired)
• Don Riley, Univ. of Maryland, Chair, IEEAF
• Ed Fantegrossi, CEO, Geographic Network
  Affiliates (GEO) and IEEAF board
• Don Benton, GEO
• Tom Durkin, GEO

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IEEAF and Africa

• January 2005 co-chaired NSF workshop on I.T.
  for Enhancing US-Africa Collaboration on the
  Environment
• February 2005 team visit to Senegal, Ghana
• May 2005 Co-organized IEEAF-Internet2 Worshop on
  Enhancing RE Networking Connectivity to and
  within Africa

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January NSF Workshop

• I.T. for Enhancing US-Africa Collaboration on
  the Environment
• Attendees US and African researchers, US
  Internet2 community, some US agencies and
  foundations
• Major conclusion
• Both the quantity and quality of research
  collaborations are significantly limited by lack
  of adequate international connectivity and
  related infrastructure within country and on
  campus.
• Data generated in and about Africa typically put
  on servers in US and Europe because of African
  bandwidth issues. So African researchers have
  poor and expensive access to data from and about
  Africa.

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May IEEAF-Internet2 WorkshopEnhancing RE
Networking Connectivity to and within Africa

• Participating organizations NSF, National
  Library of Medicine, World Bank, Rockefeller
  Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, IDRC, NSRC,
  E-Africa Commission, National Knowledge
  Commission of India, TENET, Internet2, IEEAF and
  others.
• Assessment of the situation
• Connectivity for universities and other RE
  institutions is sparse, unreliable, expensive,
  and low capacity it needs to be dense, reliable,
  cheap, and higher capacity. Due to the current
  state of development of applications and usage,
  it doesn't yet need to be at the same level as
  currently being implemented in the US, Europe and
  the Asia-Pacific region.
• There are many African and international
  initiatives in this area. There is a need to take
  stock of all these initiatives and to develop
  better mechanisms to share information,
  coordinate activities to create a more
  comprehensive and inclusive plan, set priorities,
  and reduce duplication and gaps.
• Its essential to ensure that Africans are
  included and active in setting the agenda.

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May IEEAF-Internet2 WorkshopEnhancing RE
Networking Connectivity to and within Africa

• What the global RE networking community can do
• Recognize that the situation is one of mutual
  need. Because of African RE's dire need for
  connectivity and Africa's importance to global
  RE, global RE is an ideal constituency to help
  push African RE networking forward.
• Bring people together. There was strong interest
  in regular meetings and follow-up workshops, with
  a view toward coordinating projects, building
  relationships with African RE, and better
  understanding African networking priorities.
• Jump-start the private sector. The private sector
  must be central to the development of African RE
  networking, but can't do it alone. Projects
  should aim to encourage the growth of, and
  competition among, commercial Internet providers.

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May IEEAF-Internet2 WorkshopEnhancing RE
Networking Connectivity to and within Africa

• What the global RE networking community can do
  (contd)
• Help build NRENs and regional consortia in
  Africa. NRENs play a unique role in development
  of RE connectivity and capabilities. They are a
  proven model on the international scene in
  promoting and moving forward the needed
  infrastructure and expertise in both developed
  and developing countries.
• Focus on capacity-building on African campuses.
  African universities should play a unique role in
  developing the human infrastructure required for
  an information society as they have in other
  countries. Development of needed campus networks
  and NRENs is a key component of providing actual
  experience in designing, building, and operating
  modern communications networks.
• Keep the larger perspective. RE is key to
  development of the Internet more generally (the
  original NSFnet model, as well as multiple
  examples in other countries), and the Internet is
  key to African development more generally.
  Accordingly, we should look for projects in areas
  related to RE that have potential for wider
  impact, above all in the health sector.

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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
Significant Broadband Access Enables
Significant International Collaboration
in Research and Education Leads To Empowerment
and Economic Development
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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
ThaiREN
WHREN
IEEAF Donations 10 Gig and STM-4 17 Time Zones
Tokyo
Hamburg
African Collaboration Initiative
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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
Significant Broadband Access Enables
Significant International Collaboration in
Research and Education Leads To Empowerment
and Economic Development
The Issues

• In-Country PTT Protectionist Issues
• Local Domestic Politics
• Consortium Submarine Cable Operators Seasoned
  Monopoly
• Missing International Business Drivers
• Sustainability

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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
Significant Broadband Access Enables
Significant International Collaboration in
Research and Education Leads To Empowerment
and Economic Development
The Plan

• Bring to bear our experience with public-private
  partnership and 17 time zones of critical mass
  success in bandwidth donations.
• Add a team with historical knowledge of
  projects, participants and government
  relationships.
• Team together International Telecom Knowledge
  and their Relationships with global
  multinational telecom opportunities and barter.
• Establish the beach head Set-up Hub and Spoke
  Design -- the first Quilt patch.

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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
STEP ONE
Submarine Cable Landing Site To
First University Asset Steward Exchange Point
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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE COLLABORATION
STRATEGIC PLAN Leverage NSF funding for link to
Africa

• Submarine Cable Plan from Amsterdam to Portugal
  to Senegal and Ghana

• Terrestrial Fiber plan solution from CHE to
  University TEP

• WiMAX to extend access around University TEP

• Collaboration with defined African Research
  Initiatives

• Asset Steward Hub and Spoke to neighboring
  country design project

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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
IEEAF Asset Steward Technology Exchange Point
(TEP)
Second Phase of donators network to neighboring
countries
Global Medical Research Exchange (GMRE)
Neutral Exchange
Telecom
Submarine Cablehead End Building
Key
University
Hospital
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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
STEP TWO
HUB AND SPOKE EXPANSIONS Border country telecom
donations linking back to the newly established
international exchange point with IEEAF
University Asset Steward at sub-cable landing
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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
Step Two
Country B
Country D
Step Two
Country C
Country A
Step Two
Key
Country E
University
Hospital
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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
Country C
Country B
Telco Fiber Network
Country A Second Phase of Donators Network to
neighboring countries
Country A Cable Head End
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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
SAT 3
DANTE EUMEDCONNECT
MOROCCO
TUNISIA
Mediterranean Sea
ALGERIA
LIBYA
WESTERN
EGYPT
SAHARA
SAUDI ARABIA
UAE
Red
Sea
MAURITANIA
NIGER
MALI
CHAD
Niamey
SENEGAL
Bamako
SUDAN
THE
BURKINA FASO
DJIBOUTI
GAMBIA
GUINEA
GUINEA
NIGERIA
BENIN
BISSAU
IVORY
SIERRA
Lagos
TOGO
GHANA
CENTRAL
COAST
LEONE
ETHIOPIA
Ile-ife University
U
AFRICAN
LIBERIA
CAMEROON
REPUBLIC
Yaounde
World Bank Regional Communications Infrastructure
Program (RCIP)
SOMALIA
UGANDA
EQUATORIAL
CONGO
GUINEA
KENYA
GABON
Mombasa
RWANDA
BURUNDI
DEMOCRATIC REP. Of Congo
Dares Salaam
TANZANIA
ANGOLA
South
MALAWI
Atlantic
ANGOLA
ZAMBIA
Beira
Ocean
MOZAMBIQUE
MADAGASCAR
ZAMBABWE
NAMIBIA
BOTSWANA
Capita
SWAZILAND
LESOTHO
Indian
SOUTH
AFRICA
Ocean
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AFRICAN GLOBAL QUILT INITIATIVE
COLLABORATION INTERNET EDUCATIONAL EQUAL ACCESS
FOUNDATION (IEEAF)
Significant Broadband Access Leads To
Empowerment and Economic Development
The Invitation

• Invite the RE community starting from today to
  stand with us for a FINAL PUSH
• Alignment
• Our combined weight, pushing in a single
  direction, will burst open the Access Doorways
  for our African Colleagues

The End Result Broadband for Research Project
Collaborations equals Empowerment and Economic
Development
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THE GLOBAL QUILT