RENU T he Knowledge Network for Collaborating Communities of Practice

1. RENUThe Knowledge Network for Collaborating Communities of Practice 21 May, 2013

2. Agenda • The NREN Hour in Africa • A Brief Overview of RENU • RENU Network Implementation • The Horizons

3. Agenda • The NREN Hour in Africa • A Brief Overview of RENU • RENU Network Implementation • The Horizons

4. The NREN Hour in Africa

5. NRENs in Ubuntu Alliance

6. Connected We Stand! • Post-deregulation: new challenges, uneven landscape, gaps in licensing • The survival of tertiary education/research • The connectivity opportunities: undersea, terrestrial, intra- and inter-campus • The power of cooperation:Bandwidth, cost of core technologies, quality of service, LANs • Building and maintaining HR capacity

7. A Supportive Ecosystem • Examples from other regions • Partnerships in technology, capacity building ---> development partners, other NRENS, • UA leverages a range of initiatives • Institutional development imperatives: access to technologies that transform research and education

8. Connect or Perish! Univ of Louisiana Campus Campus Campus Campus KIST UCU Campus Campus Campus Campus Campus Campus RENU RwEdNet NREN NREN LONI NREN UbuntuNet Géant Internet2

9. NREN Genome • Normally, members must be research and/or educational institutions • Recognised by other RENS • Inclusiveness and Acceptable Use Policy • Provides member institutions with • Fast links between member campuses • Connectivity to other RENs worldwide & the Internet • Carries only traffic coming from or destined for a REN • Never transit traffic that both comes from and is destined for a commodity network

10. NRENs at the Cutting Edge • Ensure that advanced networking traffic is not disabled by congestion from commodity-type traffic • Develop next-generation networking and applications in research and higher education

11. Focus on the Basics • Human network that provides a structure to produce and share knowledge • Users of physical network • A “bandwidth consortium” • Negotiate affordable Internet access • Lobby government and regulator • Help develop ICT capacity within members • Nurture local content networks • Represent country in regional initiatives –RRENs- like UbuntuNet-Alliance

12. Our Thesis “Improved and affordable regional and international connectivity is critical success factor for open access in all its forms and will enable African researchers to generate a proportionate amount of intellectual property goods to achieve parity with the rest of the world”

13. A Brief Overview of RENU

14. Step by Step • VCs & CEOs meet in Entebbe, sign MOU to create RENU, Jan 2006 • This was a second attempt at creating RENU • IEEAF capacity & equipment donation, Oct 2007 • Formal legal registration, Nov 2007 • Formal recognition by MoES, Nov 2009 • RENU ASN and IP address space announced online, Jan 2010 • RENU Bandwidth Consortium April 2010

15. We fill a networking gap.. Content Networks (Researchers, Libraries, Universities Management) Geant, IEEAF, I2 ... Global REN Infrastructure Regional Infrastructure UbuntuNet, etc NREN National Infrastructure RENU, etc Campus Infrastructure Campus level Teachers, Researchers, Libraries, Classrooms, Labs, Management

16. RENU services • Provide dedicated high-speed physical network • Operations and maintenance • Provide Internet access • Other NRENs vs. commodity Internet • Provide network services and applications • Support teaching and learning • Undertake and support advanced research • Promote interests of members / communities

17. RENU Network Implementation

18. The NREN Trinity Physical Network Connects educational and research institutions to each other and to other NRENs “Commercial” or “Commodity” Internet Human Network Provide a structure to produce and share knowledge Users of the physical network Technology Relationships Network

19. The Sharing Imperative • Provide strong foundation for better connectivity as we strive to effectively participate in a globalized, knowledge driven society • Sharing (academic) human resource and expertise • Common courses that can be delivered over E-learning platforms • Easy portability of students and their records • Sharing costs for common software and platforms as well as ICT expertise • Increasing research and academic collaboration among institutions

20. The NREN Motivation Access to more and cheaper Internet bandwidth (Mitigate the “famine”) Fostering a collaborative community; economies of scale; stronger negotiation position, advocacy Share expensive specialized education and research equipment; and advanced applications New Horizons: Grid Computing

21. Phased: 3 Proposed Phases RENU Network Design

22. Network Implementation

23. Network Ownership Models Purchase capacity From providers between two or more points Purchase managed services Lease dedicated channel, all equipment is owned by provider Lease infrastructure Lease existing unused infrastructure from provider, buy own transmission equipment Build own infrastructure

24. RENU Network Progress • Advanced Network designs (2008) • ASN and IP address space from AfriNIC (2009) • Readiness survey of Phase 1 institutions (2009) • Allocation of IPs to MAK, UCU & MUST (2009) • UTL announces ASN and IP address space (2010) • RENU Bandwidth Consortium Sep 2010 • Equipment Delivery by USAID to light up Phase 1 backbone (implementation)

25. There is still a lot to do.. Formal REN, advanced network and sufficient bandwidth: NONE .. so Af Connect Formal REN and underlying operational infrastructure: Kenya, South Africa Formal REN but no underlying operational infrastructure: Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, DRC, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Sudan REN in formation: Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Namibia, Somalia, Eritrea

26. The Horizon

27. Horizons I: Network Services & Applications Domain Name Services (DNS) Network security and security advisory Web and email hosting Bandwidth management Network storage, file servers and mirroring Collocation and NOC services IP telephony and video services Help-desk for technical problems

28. Horizons II: General Services Capacity building through practical training ICT procurement advisory Support to content networks National Internet eXchange Point (IXP) Exists but is currently neglected Providers are each afraid of the other running it NRENs are domain name registrars in some countries - Egyptian EUN is the manager of the .eg domain

29. Horizons III: More Options • Transforming learning, teaching and research • Affordable access to information resources • Global communities of practice • E-Content development • Leverage e-learning and e-health • Admin reform of HEIs and RIs

30. Opportunities Thru NRENs • Transforming learning, teaching and research • Affordable access to information resources • Global communities of practice • E-Content development • Leverage e-learning and e-health • Admin reform of HEIs and RIs

31. Horizons III: More Options • Distributed Learning • Virtual Laboratories • Distributed Computation • Digital Libraries • Interactive Digital Video & Audio • Remote Instrument Access & Manipulation • Arts Performance • Tele-immersion • Astronomy • Bio-sciences • High Energy & Nuclear Physics • Earth & Environment Observations, • Combinations of these

32. Acknowledgements

33. Thank you • To the many NRENs around the world that have shared different kinds of resources with RENU • To the many partners who continue to make generous contributions and prod RENU on as we learn how to walk • To our members for having the audacity to dream where nothing existed • Thank you all for listening!

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