The government will support and advance innovative initiatives seeking to upgrade the education sector and direct its output to meet demands of the local labour market from technicians, and technological and academic experts, H.H. Gen. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, affirmed yesterday.
’’Maximum utilisation of positive applications of the world networks for education and research like the Internet 2 has always been a national concern and constituted one of the main cornerstones of the comprehensive development strategy,’’ Sheikh Mohammed said after attending the signing ceremony of a contract between the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) and Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat) for establishing the Emirates Advanced Network for Research ’&’ Education (ANKABUT), a dedicated advanced network connecting academic and research institutions at speeds typically many times faster than commercial Internet. It facilitates research collaboration by providing access to databases and supercomputers. It is also used for teaching through rich multimedia content and high-definition video conferencing.
Sheikh Mohammed, who chairs KUSTAR’s board of trustees, called on government and private firms to continue providing educational institutions and research centres with the most advanced technologies which could help undergraduates and researchers to make better use of the world research networks.
Under the five-year contract, signed by KUSTAR Interim President Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi and Etisalat’s acting CEO Nasserr bin Aboud, the ICT Development Fund, one of the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) initiatives, and KUSTAR will jointly provide the funding for the creation of ANKABUT.
In last April, KUSTAR and ICT fund sign an AED 61M agreement to fund the ANKABUT.
So far 25 sites of public universities, colleges and schools have been connected to this advanced network, consisting of the UAE University, Zayed University, Higher Colleges of Technology, KUSTAR, and Institutes of Applied Technology. In the following stages, other public and private research institutions in the UAE will be connected to the network.
The network will allow individuals and organizations to push back the traditional boundaries of teaching, learning and research methods. This Network will provide for effective communication and collaboration between students, researchers and institutions; it has a central role to play in the realization of this potential and achievement of client and government objective; it will help educational institutions to advance their IT infrastructure; it will support changing client needs through delivery of existing and new value-added services to staff, students and researchers; and it will strengthen the ties with the wider education sector while enhancing core services for the higher education sector.
The Advanced Network in a Glance: 10 Gbps core network *1 Gbps connectivity for end users *IPv6 fully compliant network *Nation wide coverage *Minimal annual membership fees First stage: International connectivity to "Internet 2" in the United States Second stage: International connectivity to (Geant 2) in Europe and Asia Local interconnectivity of campuses through dedicated VPN (Virtual Private Network) The Advanced Network Applications: *Video conferencing Inter-library access *Grid computing *Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) *E-learning
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