3 October 2017 | Cambridge, UK
JUNet’s agreement with ASREN was signed on 27 September in Amman in the presence of Dr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman of ASREN, Prof. Ali M. Qaisi, Chairman of JUNet, and Mr Sami Smeirat, Deputy CEO of Orange.
Connecting 11 public universities and 12 community colleges across Jordan, JUNet now has again direct access to the global NREN infrastructure. In the past, JUNet had participated in the first two phases of the EUMEDCONNECT programme, but had been without dedicated international R&E capacity since 2011.
Prof. Ali M. Qaisi, Chairman of JUNet, said: “This is an important step for Jordan and its research and academic communities who in the past faced many difficulties in accessing computing resources, data repositories and scientific applications and services. To complement the vital international connectivity access we are also finalising the upgrade of the capacity of our national backbone to 3.5 Gbps. In other words, our scientists are now much better equipped to collaborate and to leave their mark on the national and international scene.”
Dr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman of ASREN, added: “This connection comes in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Program (EUMEDCONNECT3) co-financed by the European Union and managed by the European networking organisation GÉANT in cooperation with ASREN who endeavours to connect the Arab research and education communities to the rest of the world.”
To help develop the synchrotron community in Jordan, a workshop titled ‘GÉANT, H2020 and European Synchrotron Sources’ took place successfully in Amman in August with technical assistance and funding from the EU. Attracting over 100 scientists, the event was organised under the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange instrument (TAIEX) of the European Commission.
As part of the connectivity agreement, SESAME sees its current international capacity via ASREN doubled from 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps, with the remaining 900 Mbps being allocated to support the rest of JUNet’s user constituency. Further upgrades are expected as Jordan’s activities ramp up.
Background
With €3.2M EU-funding up to the end of 2019, the EUMEDCONNECT project supports research and education (R&E) networking for the Eastern Mediterranean (Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine). Now in its 3rd phase (EUMEDCONNECT3), it provides high-capacity international internet connectivity for academic and scientific collaborations. The project is managed by networking organisation GÉANT in partnership with ASREN, the local NRENs and the NRENs of Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy and Spain.
Through its earlier phases the EUMEDCONNECT programme also provided a regional R&E network for North Africa, with Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia benefiting since 2004. In July 2015, the North African countries became partners in the new AfricaConnect2 project, also managed by GÉANT and ASREN. Close links with the EUMEDCONNECT3 community are being maintained as the two projects bring the African and Arab R&E communities together.
More information:
- EUMEDCONNECT3
- GÉANT
- Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN)
- Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR)
- SESAME
Banner image: ASREN/JUNet agreement signing in Amman: Dr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh, ASREN Chairman (middle); Prof. Ali M. Qaisi, JUNet Chairman (to his left); Mr Sami Smeirat, Deputy CEO of Orange (to his right).