Research and Education Networks Services and Benefits to Participating Members Prof. AbdulGaniy O. RAJI Formerly Director, Management Information System and Chairman, Information and Communication Technology University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

Research and Education Networks Research and Education Networks (NRENs) are human and telecommunications networks and their associated organizational structures whose aim is to promote and advance: continuous communication collaboration knowledge creation knowledge exchange in the education and research sector for the benefit of social and economic development.

WHY REN? A need to share (valuable/expensive) research information/facilities. Obtaining a very fast and cheap link (high-speed backbone network with cheaper and more bandwidth) Dedicated data communications networks and services for RE communities. (dedicated channels for research projects) not-for-profit organisations serving a closed user group, hence as non-public networks

A Brief History of NRENs European Experience 1970s: REN were small ad hoc arrangements to meet local needs Only non-inter-working proprietary operating systems and communications protocols. Late 70s: need to integrate the existing ad hoc facilities into a common set of standard ways of working that could be used on a national or even international basis. Existing networks were on copper wire, owned and operated by monopoly suppliers willing to lease circuits

A Brief History of NRENs The cost of leasing a circuit directly linked to the telephone calls revenue, hence very expensive (Similitude= existing REN and internet). Commercial providers were delivering telephone services but unprepared to deliver advanced data networking services (Similitude = ISPs vs Internet). Need for pervasive inter-working between academic systems 1985: eight European dedicated organisations, rose to 15 by 1990 Access by visiting in person or using some dial-up link with modems and terminal adapters.

A Brief History of NRENs Researchers wanted remote access but Networking technology was relatively slow and simple File transfer over telephone line was an excruciatingly slow business Similitude: Internet links between researchers expensive and congested

REN ORGANISATIONAL/INSTITUTIONAL LOCAL REGIONAL NATIONAL SUB-CONTINENT CONTINENTAL INTERCONTINENTAL

REN as an ISP

AFRICAN NRENs NRENs in the sub-Saharan Africa are still in the early stages except SADC region and KENET North Africa has well developed NRENs (support provided by their governments, EU and GEANT)

SADC REN

Structure of European REN

FOCUS Establishment of Local / National / Regional REN to provide: very high speed - gigabits (Gb/s) connectivity instead of the current kilobits (kb/s) between Universities and Research Institutions (JANET UK now on Tb/s) International links to allow for peering with other RENs.

BENEFITS Capable of providing cheaper and faster connectivity to member institutions without going through the Internet. To: – share resources – communicate

BENEFITS Connectivity enables: – E-education: virtual meetings and teaching facilities, media production services – Communication: VoIP, video conferencing services, web based collaboration, media distribution, social networking. – Reduction in Physical movement: Travels etc. (Time saving and increased productivity) – Excessive cost saving on internet connectivity

Promote regional research collaboration. – Aids inter-institutional collaboration (Repository for better research) – Joint content development (Standardised curriculum) – Sharing of large databases and research results (Unified Acad. Portal) – Improved research output BENEFITS

Facilitates linkages between academic and research community Industry (Research funding) Government and Other international research and educational networks BENEFITS

Establishment and shared links to other global RENs – Provides global sharing of network services – Cross border resource sharing, cloud computing BENEFITS

Provides centralized operations and collaborations – Training and capacity building – Advisory services to member institutions – Mentorship to other educational levels (Primary, secondary, middle schools) – Unified portal project BENEFITS

GLOBAL UNDERSEA FIBRE NETWORK

Access control – authentication and authorisation infrastructures at national level with local management and level of granularity by individual participating institution. – use of hybrid networking technology IP traffic and high bandwidth supported on a single infrastructure This gives user controlled, on-demand dynamic bandwidth being available to those who need it. BENEFITS

COST SAVING? Cheaper Bandwidth collective buying power to Institutions by procuring networks and services on a national basis leading to favourable pricing – for Internet access and software licenses – member institutions on IT procurement, – developing technical specifications and tender documents. Creates economy of scale for building and sharing high speed networks, expensive research equipment and other resources. BENEFITS

BURNING ISSUES Why is it reasonable to provide explicit justification for the NRENs? » Why is there a need for NRENs when there is a competitive ISP market? » Why should NRENs receive funding from public sources? » Doesn’t the existence of NRENs distort the Internet market through unfair competition? » What should be the regulatory status of an NREN? » To what extent should the European Data Retention Directive apply to NRENs?

REN vs COMPETITIVE ISP MARKET ISPs may offer REN core services at a price that is lower than the REN’s but the true costs of relying on externally provided services which may not provide the full range of facilities that the community requires should be considered – e.g. Google) offer “free services”, but institutional integration and management have a significant cost7. RENs do not compete with commercial ISPs, but offer a level of service in parallel Both RENs and ISPs need to develop collaborative links and work together on developments for the future

REN vs Government funding? Research and Education Network organisation is an asset for economic growth and prosperity. Hybrid funding with users paying a fair contribution to the cost of production services, while government takes the longer-term view funding

REN vs REGULATORY POSITIONS REN is a well bounded and closed community of education and research users REN is not providing public services/public network operators. REN must adopt best industry practice REN must be allowed to operate within the regulations governing the academic and research activities.

CHALLENGES Lack of understanding or awareness of the benefits of – ICTs in general and – collaborative approach to ICT acquisition and maintenance. Lack of capacity to plan, design and implement the REN Funding Regions with fewer participating institution invest heavily Politics/Government Policy