PRESS RELEASE
Authors are invited to submit abstracts for presentation at UbuntuNet-Connect 2015, the 8th Annual Conference of the UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education Networking. The UbuntuNet-Connect series of conferences has been held for the past seven years and is regarded as one of the premier conferences in Africa. This year the conference will take place on 19-20 November 2015 in Maputo (main venue will be communicated soon), Mozambique and will be hosted by MoRENet, the NREN of Mozambique.
Over the three years ending on 31 May 2015 the AfricaConnect project vastly extended UbuntuNet’s regional network, establishing new points of presence in Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Kigali, Lusaka, Maputo, Moanda, Mtunzini, Cape Town and Nairobi and interconnecting them with each other and with UbuntuNet’s other points of presence in Amsterdam and London. The AfricaConnect2 Project, which is now underway, will further extend UbuntuNet’s regional network and will also deploy the first cross-border circuits of the WACREN and ASREN regional research and education networks.
Many NRENs of the region have gained good traction and momentum as regards the provision of connectivity. Although on-going development of the connectivity infrastructure is necessary, it is time for the Region’s NRENs and their institutions to look beyond connectivity. What so-called value-added services – services that depend upon the connectivity infrastructure but add applications value – should be made available to enable full participation in major collaborative research and education programs? Consequently the Alliance has set the theme for UbuntuNet-Connect 2015 as: “Beyond Connectivity: The Road to NREN Maturity”. Read more about the Call for papers here.