Progress and Challenges in Building National Research and Education Networks In Africa : A View from the Field Summary from the meeting of Sunday, 18 September 2005

Overview Speakers from universities, national networking and other research and education-oriented organizations in Africa (and a few from outside Africa – Ecuador, Mexico) Campus, national and regional/continental networking issues Keynote: Aki Sawyerr, Secretary General, Association of African Universities

Campus network session F.F. Tusubira, Makerere University, Uganda Kunle Kehinde, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Nigeria Ibrahima Niang, Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), Senegal Enrique Pelaez, Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Ecuador

Campus network – highlights Networking must be driven by the high level motivation of learning and research There has been significant progress in many African universities in establishing campus networks – but in most African countries, these remain in the minority A key element of coordinated progress is a clear policy and master plan that spells out the grand long term vision that leads to phased implementation

Campus network – cross-cutting themes/issues ICT Policy and master plan – needs to be addressed in most of the universities through supporting the development of internal capacity Funding is a major challenge – there is available funding for capital expenditure. The challenge is knowledge and the ability to tap into the sources

Campus network – cross-cutting themes/issues Capacity building across the board to continuously equip staff with information resource management skills Staff retention will always be a challenge. Universities must accept their role as training grounds, training and utilising students and young graduates to provide services, and maintaining working linkages with those who leave.

Campus network – themes/issues Sustainability is a challenge, the major component, for most universities, being bandwidth. This however extends to hardware and software. Strategies for addressing these:  Working through consortia to reduce costs of procurement and ownership  Development of capacity to use open source tools

NRENs session Duncan Martin, TENET, South Africa Victor Kyalo, KENET, Kenya Aminu Ibrahim, Nigeria ICT Forum Anthony Muyepa, University of Malawi College of Medicine Moses Bayingana, Rwanda Information Technology Authority

NRENs - highlights NRENs have a role to play There are needed much more in developing countries where resources are scarce Leverage heavily on economies of scale for:  Negotiating better deals  Mass generation of resources  Favorable advocacy  etc

NRENs – themes/issues Institutional arrangements/frameworks Challenges:  Capacity, infrastructure, interventions Leverage on existing initiatives to achieve some wins Collaboration avenues (existing and to be created) Its possible and efforts will be started to achieve some progress in the next 12mnths

Regional/Continental Session Sandra Aluoch, African Virtual University Isatou Jah, AfNOG (African Network Operators Group) Americo Muchanga, SARUA (Southern Africa Regional Universities Association) Dark Fibre Study Carlos Casasús, Cooperación Latinoamericana (CLARA)

Regional/Continental – highlights Partnership for Higher Education in Africa Bandwidth Consortium Lease entire transponder Price savings from $20 Kbps to $2.33 Kbps over past 10 years using consolidated approach

Regional/Continental – highlights Committed to over 51 Mbps  University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)  Makerere University (Uganda)  Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique)  University of Ghana (Ghana)  University of Education (Ghana)  Ahmadu Bello University (Nigeria)  Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria)  Bayero University (Nigeria)  University of Ibadan (Nigeria)  University of Jos (Nigeria)  University of Port Harcourt (Nigeria)  Association of African Universities (Ghana)  Kenya Education Network (Kenya)

Next Steps Continue negotiating for lower bandwidth pricing. Provide training to universities on bandwidth monitoring, control and management. Pass savings to other Universities on the continent.

Thanks! Presentations and archived webstream   Courtesy of Ohio State University, home of the Internet2 Commons service Major travel funding for speakers:  Carnegie Corporation  Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC)  Rockefeller Foundation  Ford Foundation  EUMEDCONNECT Workshop support:  Microsoft Research – Internet2 Corporate Partner