Eko-Konnect pilot gets support from Google Inc.
The Eko-Konnect collaboration with Sweden's premier technical university, KTH Sweden to connect four institutions in Lagos in a capacity building exercise and set the groundwork for the Nigerian REN has received support from Google Inc, as part of the Google University Access Program - http://www.google.com/university/africa/index.html
Eko-Konnect collaborates in WACREN Pilot with KTH Sweden
The Lagos Higher Education Connectivity Project is collaborating with the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden in a pilot to establish an NREN network operating centre and build local capacity in the technologies required to support the evolution and management of the physical network. The project will demonstrate a template for the establishment of the Nigerian network (ngREN) and WACREN member NRENs.
Welcome from the Chair at Eko-Konnect launch
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen of the press, invited guests, on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos Professor Tolu Odugbemi, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this forum of stakeholders on the Lagos Higher Education Connectivity Project (LHECP) tagged Eko-Konnect.
We are all aware of and have witnessed the enormous power and capabilities of communication and connectivity in various spheres of our lives through telephony and the Internet. In particular, the educational sector has been one of the greatest beneficiaries of the digital revolution. For us in the developing economies, the digital revolution has been accompanied by a digital divide between the rich north and the struggling south. This digital gap is more pronounced and glaring in the relatively high cost of communication and connectivity in developing countries.
We are therefore quite pleased with the efforts of the Internet Exchange Point (IXP) geared towards reducing the cost of communication and connectivity in Nigeria by ensuring that local Internet traffic is indeed kept local. The University of Lagos decided to connect to IXP in order to enjoy the benefits that will accrue from doing so. We urge other institutions that have not done so to do this as a matter of urgency.
As we are aware, a very important derivative of connectivity is the ability to share information in a cost-effective manner. The promoters of LHECP reasoned that if institutions of higher learning in the Lagos area can connect to IXP, then this will create opportunities for the institutions to share multimedia information, create and disseminate content, and collaborate in areas of mutual interest. This, we believe, could be the beginning of a joint academic and research network in Nigeria, similar to what already exist in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
