UbuntuNet Alliance (UA) successfully conducted a three-day Research and Education Systems Engineering Training in Kigali, Rwanda. The workshop brought together 42 systems and network administrators from universities and research institutions nationwide to strengthen the technical expertise needed to support resilient research and education network infrastructure. The training, held under the AfricaConnect4 project, co-funded by the European Union and hosted by the Rwanda Education Network (RwEdNet), forms part of the Alliance’s ongoing efforts to enhance digital capacity among National Research and Education Networks across Eastern and Southern Africa.
The workshop was conducted from 13–15 July 2026, combining theoretical instruction with intensive hands-on laboratory sessions. Participants developed practical competencies in several critical areas of systems engineering, including Linux server fundamentals and administration, automation through Bash scripting and task scheduling, security hardening and logging, Identity and Access Management using LDAP and Shibboleth, DNS server deployment and configuration, eduroam architecture and RADIUS configuration, and monitoring and observability. The practical nature of the training enabled participants to apply concepts in real-world scenarios, equipping them with skills that can immediately strengthen the digital infrastructure supporting teaching, learning, and research within their institutions.
While flagging off the workshop, Bella Rwigamba, Chief Digital Officer at Rwanda’s Ministry of Education, noted that the close collaboration between UA and RwEdNet has been instrumental in addressing critical institutional digital needs by providing fast and resilient connectivity and capacity-building activities.
The sessions were facilitated by Henry Simfukwe, Chief Technical Officer at the Zambia Research and Education Network, and Revelation Nyirongo, DevOps Engineer at UbuntuNet Alliance. Throughout the workshop, the facilitators shared practical knowledge and industry best practices drawn from their extensive experience in deploying and managing research and education network services. Their guidance helped participants deepen their understanding of secure systems administration, federated identity management, network automation, and operational monitoring – key components of reliable and sustainable research and education networks.
The training underscored the importance of continuous capacity development in supporting the digital transformation of higher education and research institutions. As these institutions increasingly depend on secure, interconnected digital services, strengthening the technical skills of systems engineers remains essential for delivering dependable network services, enabling seamless collaboration, and supporting access to global research and education resources.
