Theme: Transforming Education and Research
Conference
UbuntuNet-Connect is the Annual Conference of UbuntuNet Alliance that focuses on research and education networking activities in Africa. It is organized by UbuntuNet Alliance and hosted by member NRENs. The Conference brings together practitioners in the research and education networking community, researchers, policy makers, academicians, connectivity providers, and a pool of expertise from across Africa and beyond. In previous years, the conference has attracted sponsorship from leading commercial companies and service providers.
UbuntuNet-Connect 2013 will be held at Lemigo Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda on 14-15 November 2013 and will be precedeed by a series of other pre-conference events from 9-13 November 2013. The events will be hosted by Rwanda Education Network (RwEdNet), through the Ministry of Education.
Joint eI4Africa – CHAIN-REDS Workshop
The eI4Africa and CHAIN-REDS EU/FP7 projects will jointly organise a pre-conference workshop with the theme: ‘An Afican e-Infrastructure for Virtual Research Communities‘, on Wednesday on November 13, 2013.
Networking and Proceedings
The annual networking conference and pre-conference worshop provides opportunities for people with special interests to share their experiences, ideas and plans in the light of research and education networking and applications. Proceedings and report of previous conferences are available under ISSN 2223-7062.
PROGRAMME
Pre-conference Events
8-12 November
Pre-Conference Events12-14 November 2013 |
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| Date | Activity | |
| 9 – 13 November | Train the Trainers Workshop (closed for pre-invited NREN Engineers) Overview, Agenda | |
| Tuesday, 12 November |
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| Wednesday, 13 November |
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UbuntuNet-Connect 201314 – 15 November 2013 |
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Day 1: Thursday, 14 November 2013 |
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| 07:30 – 08:30 | Registration | |
| 08:30 – 10:00 |
Session 1: Opening SessionChairperson: Prof Zimani Kadzamira, Founding Chair, UbuntuNet Alliance |
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| Time | Activity | Presenter |
| 08:30 – 08:35 | Welcome remarks from the Ministry of Education on behalf of RwEdNet | Dr Marie-Christine Gasingirwa |
| 08:35 – 08:45 | Presentation from the Diamond Sponsor XON | David Naude and Dewalt Uys |
| 08:45 – 08:55 | Welcome remarks from CEO of the Alliance and recognition of delegations by country | Dr Francis Tusubira |
| 08:55 – 09:05 | Welcome from the Chair of the UbuntuNet Alliance | Prof John Ssebuwufu |
| 09:05 – 09:20 | European Commission for AfricaConnect | TILLESSEN Achin, EU Delegation in Rwanda |
| 09:20 – 09:25 | Brief remarks by Minister of Education and introduction of Guest of Honour | |
| 09:25 – 09:50 | Keynote Address and Opening by the Guest of Honour | TBC |
| 09:50 – 10:30 | Photo, Tour of Exhibitions and Health break | |
| 10:30 – 12:30 |
Session 2: NREN ServicesChairperson: Ludmila Maguni, CEO MoRENet |
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| 10:30 – 10:55 | Gleaning from Pro-Poor-ICT experiences to address challenges faced by Uganda’s nascent research and education network (15+10 min) |
Isaac Kasana CEO, RENU |
| 10:55 – 11:20 | ASREN regional perspective towards enhanced e-infrastructures for research and education (15 +10min) |
Salem Al-Agtash |
| 11:20 – 11:45 | Advantage of industry membership program for emerging NRENs (15 +10min) |
Brian Savory |
| 11:45 – 12:10 | Distributed Computing Services on top of a Research and Education Network: GARR (15+10 min) |
Federico Ruggieri |
| 12:10 – 14:00 | Lunch and Exhibition | |
| 14:00 – 15:30 |
Session 3: The NREN as an Organisation: Panel
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| 14:00 – 14:15 | A strategy for Developing High-end ICT talent for Emerging African NRENs and the Higher Education Community (15 min) |
Meoli Kashorda |
| 14:15 – 14:30 | The NREN Business Model (15 min) |
Robert Janz |
| 14:30 – 14:45 | Survival of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in a competitive market of Africa: A Case Study of the Zambia Research and Education Network (ZAMREN) (15 min) |
Stein Mkandawire |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | Discussion | |
| 15:00 – 15:30 | Health break and Exhibition | |
| 15:30 – 17:00 |
Session 4: AfricaConnectChairperson: Dr Iman Maaly, CEO SudREN |
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| 15:30 – 15:55 | Africa-Connect, the reality – milestones and progress (15+10) |
Cathrin Stover |
| 15:55 – 16:20 | UbuntuNet after AfricaConnect – Looking ahead (15+10 min) |
Tusu |
| 16:20 – 16:45 | Possible Scenarios for AfricaConnect2 (15+10 min) |
Lishan Adam |
| 16:45 – 17:00 | Summing Up | Duncan Martin |
| 18:00 – 20:00 | Networking Cocktail hosted by Rwanda Ministry of Education 5 min presentation from NSRC, (Gold Sponsor) |
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Day 2: Friday 15th November 2013
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| Time | Activity | Presenter |
| 08:00 – 10:05 |
Parallel Session 5a: eInfrastructure ApplicationsChairperson: Prof Etienne Ntagwirumugara, CEO RwEdNet |
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| 08:00 – 08:25 | Promoting e-Infrastructures for VRCs in Africa: the eI4Africa Project (15+10 min) |
Giuseppe la Rocca |
| 08:25 – 08:50 | HyVic and UbuntuNet Networks Partnership to Build Resilience to Climate Change in Eastern Africa (15+10 min) |
Fred Semazzi |
| 08:50 – 09:15 | On the development of climate data visualization tool for interpretation of empirical results from climate model: Does it add value to different stakeholders? (15+10 min) |
Neema Sumari |
| 09:15 – 09:40 | South Africa’s Federated Identity Management Initiative (15+10 min) |
Siju Mammen |
| 09:40 – 10:05 | The CHAIN-REDS Semantic Search Engine (15+10 min) |
Rafael Mayo Garcia |
| 10:05 – 10:30 | Health break and Exhibition | |
| 08:00 – 10:05 |
Parallel Session 5b: e-applications : e-learning, e-content (1)
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| 08:00 – 08:25 | Open access attitudes and uptake among health sciences faculty and roles of information professionals (15+10 min) |
Edda Lwoga |
| 08:25 – 08:50 | Use of Electronic Medical Records System to Enforce Adherence to Maternal and Infant Health Treatment Protocol in Malawi. A Pilot Case Study at Bwaila Maternity Hospital (15+10 min) |
Oliver Gadabu |
| 08:50 – 09:15 | Piloting White Spaces for DSpaces in Malawi (15+10 min) |
Chomora Mikeka |
| 09:15 – 09:40 | E-infrastructure acceptance in e-health, e-learning and e-agriculture in Zimbabwe: The quest for the user acceptance (15+10 min) |
Chrispen Chiome |
| 09:40 – 10:05 | A software-based solution for distributing and displaying UHD video content over networks applied to telemedicine and culture (15+10 min) |
Leandro Ciuffo |
| 10:05 – 10:30 |
Health break and Exhibition | |
| 10:30 – 12:10 |
Session 6a: NREN Infrastructure and Security
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| 10:30 – 10:55 | Use of subfluvial optical cable in a region without land-based infrastructure – a Brazilian project to deploy optical cable in Amazonia (15+10 min) |
Eduardo Grizendi |
| 10:55 – 11:20 | Security: a necessary piece of the collaboration puzzle (15+10 min) |
Alex Kisakye |
| 11:20 – 11:45 | NREN Network Security: A case study of Uganda Christian University ICT Infrastructure (15+10 min) |
Perez Matsiko |
| 11:45 – 12:10 | A Software-Based Controller for Efficient Wireless Networks (15+10 min) |
Rafael Valle |
| 10:30 – 12:10 |
Session 6b: e-Applications: e-Learning, e-Content (Cont’d)
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| 10:30 – 10:55 | Mobile Applications to Enhance Versatility Mobile Learning (15+10 min) |
Jimmy Macharia |
| 10:55 – 11:20 | The best practices e-learning inside University of Rwanda (UR) (15+10 min) |
Etiénne Ntagwirumugara |
| 11:20 – 11:45 | Multiple conference interoperability technologies (15+10 min) |
André Marins |
| 11:45 – 12:10 | Content Alert system using Short Message Service (SMS) A testimony of two collaborative projects in Africa and Asia (15+10 min) |
John Paul K Anbu |
| 12:10 | Close of Conference | |
| 12:10 – 13:30 | Lunch and departure | |