Abu Ghazaleh Chairs ASREN’s "9th International Platform on Integrating Arab e-Infrastructures in a Global Environment" – e-AGE19

Abu Dhabi – The Arab States Research and Educational Network (ASREN) held recently its "9th International Platform on Integrating Arab e-Infrastructures in a Global Environment – e-AGE19” at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, during the period 11-12 December 2019.

The meeting was hosted by the United Arab Emirates’ Advanced National Research and Education Network (Ankabut), in cooperation with the European Commission and the international research and education networks in Europe, USA, Africa, Latin America and Asia. All participants were warmly welcomed at the opening session by Dr. Arif Al Hammadi, Executive Vice President of Khalifa University, and Dr. Fahem Al Nuaimi, Ankabut CEO, who also presented the achievements in e-Infrastructures at UAE.

e-AGE19 activities concentrated on “Groundbreaking Research and Education Networks” as the main theme, while focusing at the same time on demonstrated research successes in education e-Infrastructures and the need for interoperable high speed networks at national, regional and international levels.

HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of the Arab States Research and Education Networks and Chairman of TAG.GLOBAL, acknowledged the role of the European Union in co-funding high-speed networks in the context of EUMEDCONNECT and AFRICACONNECT projects. These networks have contributed to supporting research and education in the African and Mediterranean region through interlinkage to the European GEANT research and education network.

A number of achievements have been recognized and commended by the participants including; the new phase of AfricaConnect Project, the joining of Palestine, Iraq, and Somalia as new official shareholders of ASREN, and the upgrade of Algerian link from 2.5 Gbps to 10 Gbps. 

Also a cooperation agreement was signed with the Egyptian Universities Network (EUN) to establish high-speed links for research and education with ASREN’s exchange point (PoP) in London.

The meeting was attended by more than 80 participants from 21 countries including Brazil, Cyprus, Egypt, Ghana, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Netherlands, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, the UK, and the USA.