September 25-27 2005 CERN Geneva, Switzerland

1. International Workshop on African Research and Education Networking September 25-27 2005 CERN Geneva, Switzerland Oliver B. Popov CEENet Central and Eastern European Networking Association ARENet

2. Unique events • July 2002 – a unique type of Workshop – NREN Creation “Flying” Workshop • Three countries and three cities in seven days • Czech Republic (Prague) – CESNet • Poland (Warsaw) – NASK/POL-34 • Estonia (Tartu) – EENet • NREN Creation Cookbook (in Russian and English) ARENet

3. Champions above all • “But most importantly perhaps one needs product champions. For only these individuals can create all other conditions.” Peter A. J. Tindemans (Yaroslavl, June 1998) • The participants of this Workshop are champions – past, present and future ARENet

4. CEENet • 24 member NRENs (countries) • Offices in Vienna (AT) and Warsaw (PL) • General Assembly and Management Committee • Secretariat • www.ceenet.org • The primary mission of CEENet is to co-ordinate the international aspects of the academic, research and education networks in Central and Eastern Europe and in adjacent countries. ARENet

5. NATO (www.nato.org) • Public diplomacy division • Information Security Panel (formerly Computer Networking Panel - NIG, ANW and ARW) • Open Society Institute (OSI www.osi.org) • Cisco Systems ARENet

6. Wrong directions ...but • Fragmented efforts – partial or no results at all (everyone wants to be in charge) • Present and work in a unified and coordinated way – nothing looks more discouraging than to see signs of internal fighting and disagreement • Problems with no regulation or lack of “real” one, transparency, corruption ARENet

7. Misplaced competitive behavior • Ministries and agencies (government) • Research and education community (users) • International organizations • PNOs and other ISPs (including virtual Telecom monopolies), but one must work together – so talk to the “devil” ARENet

8. Misconceptions • NREN will disturb the market • Unfair to the other providers due to the exclusivity of the well- defined user groups • NREN has a lot of “political” power and influence • Lack of political capacity, will and awareness amounts to a cocktail of arrogance, ignorance and incompetence ARENet

9. Outside assistance • Should • Identify the right people • Be very focused • Start with equipment, expertise, and training – catalytic funding • Help in lobbying and raising the awareness • Localization of the standards does not mean producing multiple standards ARENet

10. Goals and Objectives • Similar problems similar solutions • Three types of educational events, where we discuss, exchange and disseminate ideas and best practices on • The technological know-how for building the essential infrastructure • Management strategies and policy issues for stability and sustainability • Strong belief that sustainability = technological competence + managerial vision + appropriate policies + public awareness ARENet

11. Sustainable NREN • Appropriate with respect to • Human resources • Technology • Nationally based, internationally oriented • Inclusive (if possibly include many segments in addition to the primary users – the academic community) • Find young and vigorous politicians and educate and entice them for your work – stress content and public recognition, not fiber, copper, switches, … ARENet

12. Sustainable NREN • Extensions • NGOs (they have helped to start up many academic networks) • Community networks (non-for-profit) • Individual users (such as independent artists) • All of this may require a small fraction of your bandwidth, but will provide you with ample support and fiercely fight for your existence ARENet

13. Workshops on Network Technology • Strategy • Always have a combined team of lecturers • From the CEE countries for promoting self-sufficiency, recognition and continuous training • From the EU and USA for state-of-the-art updates • To expose the participants to the leaders in the ICT industry, best possible and yet affordable and suitable technology • To explore the intended and unintended social and humanistic consequences of the ICT and to reassert the maxim that we Connecting machines… to connect people ARENet

14. Workshops on Network Technology • EngiNe, NetKnows, WirEd – three tracks • Warsaw – 1995, Budapest – 1996, Zagreb – 1997, Bratislava – 1998, Budapest – 1999, Budapest - 2000, Budapest – 2001, Budapest 2002, Budapest 2004, Ohrid 2005 • Never limited to its members – for the last two years we have had participants from Afghanistan ARENet

15. Workshops on network technology • In 2002, 2004, and 2005 technology workshops with a single track – EngiNe tailored to a specific audience – an educational extension of the Silk Project (satellite, wireless, and security topics respectively) • First Virtual Silk Connection became operational during the workshop in 2002 • The side-effect from the WirEd track - Running a pre-workshop distance courses in all three tracks – a very effective instrument both for the selection and the preparation of the potential participants for the f2f event. ARENet

16. Management and Policy • Workshops on Management • Yaroslavl – 1998 (co-organized with TERENA) • Ohrid – 2000 • Zagreb – 2002 • Chisinau - 2004 • Workshops on Policy • Tartu – 1997 (CEENet Tartu Declaration) • Tbilisi – 1999 (CARENA and MoU) • Bishkek – 2001 • Flying – Prague, Warsaw, and Tartu - 2002 • Baku – 2003 • Varna – 2003 (with TERENA and SEEREN) ARENet

17. Projects • Co-operates with Cisco Systems on the expansion and upgrading of their Cisco Networking Academies in the CEE and FSU regions • ALaRI – recruitment and selection of students for a graduate programme at the UL in embedded engineering systems • @DULINE – Distance education in creation and design of distance education courses and tutoring on-line • ICT4ICT – modeling ICT diffusion in CEE and developing countries and validation via pilot projects in two countries of SEE and Caucuses • It is about to start the EU funded Porta Optica ARENet

18. Declarations, MoUs and statements • CEENet Tartu Declaration (May, 1997) • CARENA and MoU (Tbilisi, April 2000) • SEE and MoU (Thessalonica, October, 2000) • Varna Statement (September 2003) ARENet

19. The Essence of the CTD • Seven parts • Preamble • The challenges • The current situation • The goals and the objectives to be reached • The means to achieve these objectives • The list of problems, and • The set of recommendations ARENet

20. Recap and lessons learned • With respect to CEENet • Keep it small in everything except your aspirations • Modest membership and reasonably sized administration • Focus on few goals and strive for excellence in achieving them • Induce fairness – one vote per one member • Replicate your success models • Educate on all levels – from network engineers and administrators, to policy and decision makers. • We have “educated” more than thousand people and build an invaluable human network ARENet

21. Recap and lessons learned • ICT, networking and the Internet are mosaic of efforts – so you need every stone to complete the picture. • Technology has indeed the potential to induce a leapfrog effect – in 1992 both Poland and Czech Republic had between 19.6 and 56 Kbps for their Internet connectivity – today their NRENs are among the leaders in deploying and using fiber • Sense of “déjà vu” – 25.09.05 • Never forget that networking is about sharing and communication is about understanding, and finally • Hope that the old guard of politicians will fade into history, and will be replaced by the “Internet” generation of decision makers. ARENet

22. Many thanks to • The organizers, in particular the hospitality of CERN and Olivier Martin on the prep work • The sponsors • The participants for their attention ARENet