1. EUM-05-059 Electronic Networking: EUMEDCONNECT Project Sabine Jaume-Rajaonia External affairs manager GIP RENATER

2. EUM-05-059 Partners Coordinating Partner - DANTE MED partners/beneficiaries: –Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey EU partners: –National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) of France, Greece, Italy and Spain Funded up to 10 M EURO/80% by European Commission – DG AIDCO EUMEDIS programme Remaining funding - from beneficiaries Contracted - to June 2006

3. EUM-05-059 EUMEDCONNECT Objectives To establish an electronic, Internet-based network in the Mediterranean region to: Connect MED Partners’ research and education communities to Europe via GÉANT Enable research and educational collaboration within the MED region Thereby: – Ease the EU-MED research networking ‘digital divide’ – Strengthen human relationships and stability

4. EUM-05-059 Project Environment Monopoly national operators Limited international telecoms infrastructure and poor investment conditions Unaffordably high commercial prices De-regulation slow, competition weak No consortium Difficult political climate

5. EUM-05-059 Now, the Mediterranean region is connected… Capacity provided as point to point International leased circuits EUMEDCONNECT tightly linked to GEANT Topology is the outcome of a challenging tender

6. EUM-05-059 EUMEDCONNECT NETWORK

7. EUM-05-059 Achievements: connectivity

8. EUM-05-059 But also ….. Increase the number of users : Connecting major project sites (instead of via commercial Internet) Develop applications : –Hosting project databases in any connected country –Grid computing –Real-time applications requiring high bandwidths and reliable connections (e.g. videoconferencing, tele-medecine)

9. EUM-05-059 Who is using the network? Over 100 Mediterranean universities and research centres connected for first time Researchers and students in the 25 EU Member States and 9 Mediterranean Partner Countries EUMEDIS Pilot projects e.g. –STRABON (tourism and culture) –MEDFORIST (e-Business learning) –EUMEDCancer (Medical e-Learning) –AVICENNA (Virtual campus) –MVU (Virtual university) EUMEDGRID – first Grid Computing project for Mediterranean region, based on EGEE experience, planned from late 2005 for 2 years

10. EUM-05-059 Beyond June 2006 Current EUMEDCONNECT network costing 3 – 4 M Euro per year Partners want EUMEDCONNECT to continue after June 2006 but need continued external funding assistance Modalities for extension being discussed with European Commission

11. EUM-05-059 Conclusions EUMEDCONNECT now connects the Mediterranean regions’ research community and with the European community -> synergy Provides high performance Internet infrastructure for further EU/MED collaborative programmes Offers one successful model for other African research networking projects Contact david.west@dante.org.uk or visit www.eumedconnect.net