The importance of this report comes from the fact that Arab e-Infrastructures need to be developed to reach global benchmarks.
The Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN) launched a comprehensive report on the status of Arab e-Infrastructure during the 2nd Platform for Integrating Arab e-Infrastructure in a Global Environment ( http://eage2012.asrenorg.net ) held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
The report contributes to analyzing the status of Arab e-Infrastructure in support of regional research and educational societies as well as to shedding light on the importance of broadband communication networks dedicated for research and education. The report outlines the concept of Education and Scientific Research networks and presents a vision for a Pan-Arab e-Infrastructure. It also presents a summary on the status of Arab national research and education network and cross boarder connectivity.
The importance of this report comes from the fact that Arab e-Infrastructures need to be developed to reach a global benchmark. While research and education connectivity in Europe and the US reaches tens of Gigabits per second, cross boarder or international connectivity either does not exist or barely reaches tens of Megabits per second. As a result, Arab research and educational communities are left behind the global technology development as well as the outreach to scientific and educational resources, applications, and services. This calls for an urgent need to develop dedicated Pan-Arab e-Infrastructures.
The development of the report has received funding from the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Program – FP7, relating to the project ‘Coordination and Harmonization of Advanced e-Infrastructure’ and the European Commission’s European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) South Regional Program, relating to the project ‘EUMEDCONNECT3’. The report includes contributions from DANTE (Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe), Arab NRENs, as well as the Coordination and Harmonization of Advanced e-Infrastructure (CHAIN) partners.
