UbuntuNet Alliance will in 2017 unveil a new portfolio of services the Alliance intends to extend to its NREN Members as part of its drive to turn the NRENs from mostly mere Internet connectivity providers into diverse e- learning and e-Infrastructure service and host centers.
The Alliances’ Service Portfolio Manager Chris Rohrer presented the proposed new set of services to NREN managers and CTOs during the AfricaConect2 Administration meeting held in the run up to the UbuntuNet-Connect 2016 in November 2016 in Entebbe, Uganda.
Currently, the Alliance provides a range of bundled services to its NREN members including connectivity, engineer capacity building and e-service support.
But making a presentation on proposed new services, Rohrer said the new services will be important in making NRENs more relevant to their communities and end-users.
Commenting on the development, UbuntuNet Alliance CEO Dr. Pascal Hoba said the introduction of the new services will give NREN Members a chance to add more value to their communities.
“Having focused on providing connectivity for the past years, we are now confident that we have created a viable platform that can support influential NREN services which our members are in need of. These services will transform our members from being mere connectivity providers thereby giving them a strong competitive advantage.”
Dr. Hoba however said the Alliance will conduct a needs assessment exercise to determine the needs of individual NRENs in order to come up with a wider catalogue of services that would be relevant to the individual NREN and also to avoid competition and duplication of services between the Alliance and its members.