3 January 2012, Cambridge, UK – Researchers in Bangladesh tackling the serious issues facing their country including extreme flooding, malnutrition, disease and food security have improved prospects thanks to a new high-speed internet link to researchers in locations around the world.
Bangladesh becomes the latest country to connect to the TEIN3 (Trans-Eurasia Information Network) research and education data-communications network for Asia Pacific. Thanks to the TEIN3 link the country’s highly active research community will be able to share findings and collaborate with other international institutions worldwide more quickly and simply, with potential for accelerating societal benefits.
The country’s researchers will be better able to collaborate on research programmes that improve prospects for the country. The link paves the way for 100,000 Bangladeshi researchers at 100 academic and research Institutions in Bangladesh to collaborate with international colleagues via their national TEIN3 partner, Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN).
Bangladesh joins Sri Lanka, Singapore, India and Pakistan as the most recent countries to connect to TEIN3, following the extension of the network into South Asia in 2010. The TEIN3 network, which is co-funded by the European Commission, extends to the South Asian sub-continent serving over 45 million users in more than 8,000 academic institutions and research centres across Asia.
“This is a major step forward for BdREN, as joining TEIN3 will enable academics, scientists and researchers in Bangladesh to collaborate with the wider international research community,” said Professor A. K. Azad Chowdhury, the Chairman (State Minister) of the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh. “This exciting development significantly widens the scope of researchers, in particular those needing access to high-end computing, simulation tools and datasets. This will help Bangladeshi researchers to work on projects with high societal impact such as food security, climate change mitigation and medical research and training.”
He continued: “The financial support of the European Commission towards funding our TEIN3 connection is invaluable.”
Bangladesh joins China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia in the expanding TEIN3 network.
David West, project manager at DANTE, the not-for-profit company that manages TEIN3 commented: ‘The current TEIN3 partners are delighted to welcome Bangladesh to the network. Seeing the network expand into Asia Pacific, improving access to knowledge and learning, is immensely gratifying and a significant achievement.’
Furthermore, a high speed link to GÉANT means the TEIN3 community also enjoys high quality Internet connectivity with the 40 million users served by the pan-European network.
Further countries in South Asia planning to connect to TEIN3 include Bhutan and Cambodia.
About TEIN3
The Trans-Eurasia Information Network (TEIN) connects the research and education community across Asia-Pacific. Starting with a single circuit between France and Korea in 2001, TEIN3, the third generation of the project now links 16 countries in the region to each other and the global research community and is managed by DANTE. Applications using the network include climate research and meteorology, food security and health programmes. The TEIN* Cooperation Center has been established, with Korean government and TEIN partner support and endorsed at ASEM8 in October 2010, to take responsibility for a 4th phase of the TEIN programme starting in 2012. The TEIN*CC organisation will be closely supported by DANTE in its initial phase.
About DANTE:
DANTE is a non-profit organisation whose primary mission is to plan, build and manage research and education networks. Established in 1993, DANTE has been fundamental to the success of pan-European research and education networking. DANTE has built and operates GÉANT which provides the data-communications infrastructure essential to the success of many research projects in Europe. DANTE is involved in worldwide initiatives to interconnect countries in other regions to one another and to GÉANT.
About BdREN
University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh, on behalf of the Ministry of Education (MoE), is currently constructing the Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN). Now BdREN is in its initial phase. It will be a high-speed data-communications network that is independent of the commercial internet and is dedicated to meeting the needs of the academic and research communities of both public and private sectors.
BdREN with its multi-gigabit capability aims to connect all universities, research institutions, libraries, laboratories, healthcare and agricultural institutions across the country and to support geographically dispersed academics, scientists and researchers with reliable access to high-end computing, simulation tools and datasets. UGC has made an IRU contract with Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) Ltd. for its countrywide OPGW network. The backbone network of BdREN has been designed based on this optical fiber.
BdREN will also be connected with other regional and trans-continental Research and Education Networks (RENs). It will link the faculties and students of Bangladesh to the global academic community and learning resources. It will also facilitate international collaborative research and will catalyze innovation in the country.
BdREN will eventually be operated by a non-profit Trust organization with a board of trustees consisting of representatives from the universities/user communities, UGC, MoE and other members co-opted for their expertise and position in relevant organizations.
Kaynak : 