The 2nd C@ribNET Assembly hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Research and Education Network, TTRENT, from March 26-27, 2013 had sixty representatives from twenty different countries in attendance, and by all accounts, delivered on its objectives. 

 

Under the theme "Collaboration, Cooperation, Community" the Assembly addressed the topics of NREN Development, Building Communities of interest and building e-infrastructures. The presentations, which were wide ranging, can be found on the CKLN website.

 

When asked to indicate the most important outcomes of the 2nd Assembly, respondents stated that the ability to meet and network with other NREN representatives and other institutions was extremely valuable. Meeting and sharing with global networks, they felt showed that C@ribNET is "up there" on the world's R&E map. Networking facilities such as the C@ribNET Portal, and the sharing of best/other practices they felt enabled C@ribNET users to feel on a "sure footing" going forward.

 

While keen to learn about communities and e-infrastructures elsewhere, the participants were particularly interested in the regional initiatives such as Virtual Libraries, the Seismology Research Centre as well as the presentation on the African Virtual University. 

 

CKLN is very grateful to the European Union for funding the Assembly and to the support provided by TTRENT and the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training (MTEST) in the twin-island state.

 

 
Representatives from government and tertiary institutions of member islands of the 

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) held a consultation in Grenada in early February to discuss the formation of an OECS Research and Education Network (OREN) to facilitate collaboration among national education and research institutions. Hosted by the CKLN, the participants made a number of recommendations that included the formation of a Task Force to initiate and formalise the OECS-REN. Their mandate is to accomplish a number of critical milestones within three (3) months

  The Caribbean Knowledge and Learning Network (CKLN) has accompanied the development of the regional research and education network C@ribNET with a programme of technical support that aims to develop national research and education networks and enable end-user institutions to leverage the network for improved service delivery. 

In supporting these goals, CKLN partnered with the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) to stage a five (5) day hands-on regional workshop on Routing, Peering and Network Management and Monitoring. This workshop was aimed at enhancing the regional capacity for network engineering and was a pre-cursor to the 2nd C@ribNET Assembly of NRENs held in Trinidad & Tobago in February.

Opportunities and Challenges in Developing  R&E Networks in Developing Countries.  This was the topic of the roundtable discussion that was held at the launch of C@ribNET in Trinidad & Tobago on February 26, 2013. Participating (L-R) were Mr. Ken Sylvester, CEO of CKLN, Mr. Chris Dehring, Chief Operating Officer of LIME Caribbean, Dr. Florencio Utreras, CEO of RedCLARA (Latin American REN), Mr. Dave Lambert, President and CEO of Internet2 (USA), Ms. Cathrin Stover, Chief International Relations and Communications Officer, DANTE (Europe), Prof. Errol Miller and Dr. Lishan Adam, Board member of UbuntuNet Alliance (Africa).  One of the critical issues discussed was the continuing challenge to remain globally relevant and to be sustainable. To sustain the proper functioning of a network in a developing region requires an assurance of the resources to build a continuously scalable technical network, and to strengthen and expand the technical and engineering competencies. Mr. Sylvester noted that in the past few months alone, "CKLN has recognised that our constituents already need more bandwidth, and so we have actively begun to explore strategies to extend the capacity of C@ribNET, to provide ubiquitous broadband access to the researchers and learning institutions across the Caribbean region."  .

Some communities of interest in the Caribbean with the intention of utilising 

C@ribNET are emerging as we speak (read!):

• The Virtual Library for the Caribbean
• Caribbean tele-health
• C@ribNET Technical support

You can contact Ms. Karen Lequay regarding the Virtual Library for the Caribbean - a number of persons expressed great interest in this at the 2nd C@ribNET Assembly in Port of Spain.

 

CKLN is in the initial discussion stages with a number of partners regarding tele-health and will advise how this is progressing by the next News Update. In the meanwhile, have a look at this article in The Economist, entitled "The Webcam Will See You Now"

 

The Technical Community is mainly for the technical representatives of NRENs that took part in the recent training (see article above) - and aims to keep them engaged.

 

All these communities will very soon be able to collaborate and share on the C@ribNET Portal that will be accessible during April. Stay tuned for that major development!!

Opportunities    

    Are you interested in watching live streamed presentations from the
    two upcoming Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute (PASI) courses?

    The first course will be held May 5-18 in Leon, Nicaragua and covers
    Magma-Tectonic Interactions in the Americas.

    The second course will be held May 27 - June 7 in Cartagena,
    Colombia, covering Atmospheric Processes in Latin America and the
    Caribbean.

    We are coordinating resources to allow people to view a live stream
    of the presentations. These presentations will occur for
    approximately 2 hours per day. 

    If you are interested in viewing
    these live streams, please contact Megan Berg at UNAVCO by Friday, April 5th.

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