Sudanese Research and Education Network: Challenges and Opportunities, Dr. Iman Abuel Maaly, UbuntuNet Alliance, Dr. Iman Abuel Maaly, UbuntuNet Alliance Porto June 2015

About Sudan 2 Area:. Area: 1,861,484 sq km. The Sudan is considered one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources. Location

3 About Sudan Old civilizations in Sudan date back to the year 3000 BC when several kingdoms were founded.

About Sudan

Higher Education About Sudan A total of 100 higher education institutions More than 800,000 students About 13,000 staff A total of 100 higher education institutions More than 800,000 students About 13,000 staff

About the Sudanese Research and Education Network (SudREN) SudREN is the NREN of Sudan Founded in 2004 SudREN is the NREN of Sudan Founded in 2004

A project of the Ministry of Higher Education A non profit organization Board of Directors Executive Committee Governance: A Tech Committee Staff: A project manager and 2 part time staff Staff:, 16 FT staff

Geographical coverage: all states of Sudan Geographical coverage: all states of Sudan Total Number

Optical fiber Frame Relay 128 Kbps 4 Mbps Internet 450 Mbps (3 STM-1) Two operators: Sudatel & Canary One operator: Sudatel

Video Conference System The Virtual Library E-science project Research Index Training The Virtual library Project

Business Plan Pricing document Financial auditing Fully dependent on government fund

Lessons Learned

Conflict of interest Conflict of interest between the commercial telecom providers and SudREN. Network utilization Network utilization varied tremendously between; and even within, universities. Limited services Limited services, Due to conflict of interest with other players or lack of policies

Continuing government Support, regulato The regulator is the main supporting body, National fiber The National fiber connects all states in Sudan reaching boarders with all neighbor countries. Big institutions high utilization Big institutions have high utilization and there is great growth in demand.

staff AfricaConnect Project, NSRC and other partners) SudREN has a very well trained full time staff ( thanks to AfricaConnect Project, NSRC and other partners) good reputation It has a good reputation among the higher education institutions. UbutnuNet Alliance Being an active member of UbutnuNet Alliance.

To be established, an NREN needs: A dedicated leader, support of Vice-Chancellors, a good governance model, recognition by government, Lessons Learned

To be sustainable, an NREN needs to To be sustainable, an NREN needs to: prepare a good business plan, establish a good human resources manual, extend its efforts to the institutions, participate in policy making at the top level of the country. collaborate with developed RENs. Lessons Learned

Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration, Nationally, regionally and globally,