Research and Education Network Nepal: Problems and Prospects APAN South Asia Net Group Meeting Bangkok, Thailand 18 December 2003 Research and Education Network Nepal: Problems and Prospects Binod Vaidya Center for Information Technology Institute of Engineering Tribhuvan University Nepal

Introduction

Background 4 Universities dealing with technology courses Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu - 1959 Kathmandu University, Dhudikhel - 1992 Pokhara University, Pokhara - 1997 Purwanchal University, Biratnagar – 1995 1 University (only Sanskrit Language) Mahendra Sanskrit University

Tribhuvan University (TU) Tribhuvan University is oldest and largest University 61 Constituent Campuses 222 Affiliated Campuses. Total number of students in Constituent campuses – 138,500 More than 150,000 students in Affiliated campuses

Distribution of Campuses – region wise Constituent Campuses Affiliated Campuses

Overall Student Population Student population distribution in constituent institute/faculty only

Institute of Engineering (IOE) Established in 1972 One of institutes of TU. To produce technicians and engineers capable of meeting national aspirations for accelerated development of country. Four Constituent campuses – Pulchwok Campus & Thapathali Campus in Kathmandu Western Region Campus in Pokhara Eastern Region Campus in Dharan Six private affiliated Colleges. About 1800 students in Pulchowk Campus alone

Center of Information Technology (CIT) Established in 1997 One of autonomous units in IOE Objective is to provide IT facilities to faculty, staff and students to conduct research and development and consultancy works related to IT. VSAT terminal and equipment for Internet connectivity Optical fiber backbone within Pulchowk premises and large computing facilities.

Current Network Infrastructure at CIT/IOE Network Link and Users VSAT link : 512kbps/128kbps (downlink/uplink) Thaicom Satellite C-band system Bangkok as hub to internet LAN Users : 1800 Dial-Up Users : 300

Current Network Infrastructure at CIT/IOE Equipment at Main Server Room at CIT No of Routers: 2 Satellite Modem (upto 2 Mbps): 1 RAS Server (96 pools of digital/analog modems): 1 Switch (24-port Opto Electrical Switch) : 2 DNS, Web, Mail, Proxy, DHCP Servers : 6 Existing IOE Network Optical Fiber Backbone cabling for Interdepartmental Connections About 900 PCs ranging from Pentium I to IV.

Research and Education Network Nepal Establishment of RENN under administration of IOE to cater national and international collaborations for facilitating research and educational developments to meet growing needs of academic and research community in Nepal Non-commercial Network

Aims and Objectives of RENN To set up IT infrastructure to connect all universities / institutions and campuses within Nepal To develop self-study centers by providing electronic library databases, Internet, multimedia, and other self-study material To develop social-learning systems by creating multimedia courseware, and providing knowledge databases and distance learning systems. To deliver increased opportunities for collaboration in research; To facilitate transfer of technology between academic and research institutions; To train teachers and assistants to be able to apply IT for educational development To establish national database for academic institutions and educational research; provide systematic educational information to help establish information application system for academic institutions. To encourage institutions participating in bilateral cooperative arrangements to bring them into multilateral relationships

RENN Organization Divided into 4 levels of organization: RENN Advisory Board RENN Management Board Education Network Panel Information Resource Panel

Advisory Board Representative from Ministry of Education Representative from Ministry of Science and Technology Representative from Ministry of Finance Representative from National Planning Commission Representative from Ministry of Information and Communication/ Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) Representative from Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) Dean, Institute of Engineering Campus Chief, Pulchowk Campus Director, Center for Information Technology, Pulchowk Campus Representative from Kathmandu University Representative from Pokhara University Representative from Purwanchal University

Advisory Board (cont..) Representative from Faculty of Management, TU Representative from Institute of Science and Technology, TU Representative from Institute of Medicine, TU Representative from University Grants Commission (UGC) Representative from Royal Nepal Academic Science and Technology (RONAST) President, Computer Association Nepal (CAN) President, Society of Electronics and Communication Engineers Nepal (SECEN) President, Information Technology Professional Forum (ITPF) President, Association of Computer Engineers Nepal (ACEN)

Management Board Campus Chief, Pulchowk Campus Director, Center for Information Technology Head, Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, Pulchowk Campus IT Expert from Kathmandu University IT Expert from Pokhara University IT Expert from Purwanchal University IT Expert from Faculty of Management, TU IT Expert from Institute of Science and Technology, TU IT Expert from Institute of Medicine, TU IT Expert from one of IOE Affiliated Campuses

Services Network infrastructure and services set up shall include: Installation, maintenance and operation of large Campus LANs Seamless interconnection of LAN-WAN segments, and multi-protocol capability provided Deployment of wired and wireless networks for Internet access Provision of whole range of Internet services Provision of e-learning and distance education

Current Status Central TU offices and Exam controller Office are using dial-up connection TU Constituent as well as affiliated Campuses within Kathmandu valley are connected by dial-up service Ministry of Education is also connected to CIT network

Proposed Network Infrastructure Network shall be build at three-layer hierarchical principle: Main Networking Center at IOE University Networking Centers in Central TU Kathmandu University Pokhara University, Puwanchal University Campus network in each campus

Proposed Network Infrastructure Main Networking Center is located in IOE at CIT Building acts as gateway to Internet Dedicated Intranet servers located. Academic institutions and campuses are connected either directly to Main Networking Center or via University Networking Centers are located in different parts of Nepal

Proposed Network Topology

Constraints and problems Lack of policies and regulations for non-commercial educational network No tax or license fee exemption for non-commercial educational network Lack of telecommunication facilities in all development regions Lack of ICT facilities in most of campuses outside Kathmandu Valley Lack of infrastructure and physical facilities Lack of investment for educational network High cost of internetworking devices High cost of Internet Bandwidth through VSAT

Prospects Ministry of Science and Technology has assured to formulate appropriate policies and regulations. Ministry of Education is keen to support on establishing RENN TU as well as IOE authorities are positive on establishing RENN Foreign institutions are willing to help for not only establishment but also sustainable operation of RENN

Future Plan Upgrading the facilities of IOE; VSAT Bandwidth - Increase to 1Mbps/512kbps Connection to IOM and Central TU using dedicated lines using Wi-Fi networks; Connection to IOE constituent as well as affiliated colleges Wi-Fi networks or leased lines; Connection to Kathmandu University (KU) by leased Building Intranet Collaborations with foreign institutions/ organizations for various ICT R&D and network connectivity

Q&A Thank you! bvaidya@ioe.edu.np