Held at AITI

1. garnet.edu.gh

Ghana Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
Benjamin A. Eshun
Ghanaian Academic and Research Network
(GARNET)
Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence
28th October 2015

2. garnet.edu.gh
GARNET is the NREN for Ghana
 National Research and Education Network
 A high performance national network connecting
academic and research institutions
 the vital and core component of modern teaching,
research and learning
 Legally registered in August 2010 as a Company Limited
by Guarantee and as a Non-Profit Organization
 Volunteer based staff
 Several Workshops and training build campus networks
(NMM, Virtualization, Campus Best Practices)

3. garnet.edu.gh
Building Blocks of Research & Education
Networks
regional!levels!and!creating!a!family!of!inter_connected!research!and!academic!comm
around! the! globe.! The! building! blocks! are! the! fiber!based! campus! networks! in! ind
institutions!that!connect!to!a!centrally!operated!high!capacity!national!fiber!backbone,!li
other!countries’!NRENs!and!then!to!regional!networks!like!GÉANT!in!Europe!or!Internet2
United!States.!Figure!1!shows!the!building!blocks!of!research!and!education!networks.!
!
!
AFREN
WACREN
GARNET
HE&
Research
Institutions

4. garnet.edu.gh
Nature of NRENs
 Academic and research networking is now regarded as an essential
national infrastructure (public good) comparable to roads, water and
energy services due to its implications on learning, teaching, and
research
 Education, cutting-edge research, science and technology are the key
ingredients for sustainable social and economic development.
 ICTs underpin research and education and the creation of an innovative
and life-long learning society, which possesses a community of scholars,
researchers, engineers, technicians and firms engaged in production of
high- technology goods and services.
 Building a strong education and research community is a cornerstone for
prosperity, societal development, stability and regional integration

5. garnet.edu.gh
Benefits of GARNET
 Primary Benefits
 Contribute to inter-institutional collaboration, research and human
networking between universities in Ghana and to other
international universities
 Create economy of scale for building and sharing high speed
networks, expensive research equipment and other resources.
 Promote joint institutional content development, access to large
databases and sharing of research results
 Promote distance learning and video conferencing and additional
services for the entire education and research community
 Provide centralized training, capacity building and advisory services
to their member institutions and others such as local secondary
schools.
 Promote linkages between the academic and research community,
industry, government and other international research and
educational networks

6. garnet.edu.gh
Benefits of GARNET
 Secondary Benefits
 Negotiate, on behalf of all participating institutions,
favorable pricing for Internet access and software
licenses
 Promote the interests of members through
lobbying, conducting of awareness campaigns,
providing timely communication and information,
and through engagement with government, the
public and the international community.
 Promote national, regional and international
collaboration.

7. garnet.edu.gh
Internet Governance and NRENs
 Freedom is not something that is comes naturally
 Because ICTs underpins R&E, Academic Freedom is
no different.
 The almost unlimited freedom that the Internet
seems to offer is under constant threat.
 Need to keep the Internet open, accessible and
trustworthy.
 prerequisite for researchers, students, scholars and
teachers all over the world

8. garnet.edu.gh
Internet Governance and NRENs
 Should continue to ensure that the Internet
remains open and supports innovation
 innovation is organized in a multitude of ways
depending on whether we look at infrastructure,
services, devices or apps.
 enables better research, more opportunities for
education, more cross-disciplinary and cross-border
cooperation in research project

9. garnet.edu.gh
Current Plans of GARNET
 Negotiating with neutral datacenters for co-location
space
 Acquire a Private Network Operators License
 Members 1st encourage to meet requirements for
interconnection
 GARNET provides assistance where there are
shortfalls
 GARNET is part of the AfricaConnect2 via WACREN

10. garnet.edu.gh
Up Coming Events
 National Workshop (one day): 6th November 2015,
at the University of Ghana, Legon
 the aim is to sensitize the local community in the
activities of GARNET and WACREN and identify
groups of researchers already organized or at least
grouped according to thematic areas (health,
environment, food security, etc.) .
 Main objective is to build communities of practice.

11. garnet.edu.gh
Questions?
 Thank You…
Benjamin A. Eshun
beshun@garnet.edu.gh