Europe-Asia Research Network brings opportunities for Philippines'
competitiveness and innovation
Nine
years ago, a large-scale investment in research to connect Asia and
Europe was initiated. With funding support from the European Union
(EU), the Trans-Eurasia Information Network (TEIN) came about as an
outcome of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in 2000, intended to
improve research networking between the two regions. Almost a decade
and two highly successful TEIN projects later, the TEIN initiative has
managed to connect over 30 million users at 4,000 sites across Europe
and Asia, and is now the principal research and education network
serving the Asia-Pacific region.
The Philippines joined the
second generation of TEIN (TEIN2) in 2005. At that time, the Philippine
Research, Education, and Government Information Network (PREGINET), the
country's National Research and Education Network (NREN) was already
fully operational and being maintained by the DOST-Advanced Science and
Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI). With PREGINET already in place,
DOST-ASTI saw the need to put value to this infrastructure by investing
in high-value research initiatives that would improve the country's
competitiveness and capacity for innovation.
TEIN3 or the third
generation of the TEIN project, comes after the success of its
predecessors and is expected to run until 2011. Managed by the Delivery
of Advanced Network Technology to Europe (DANTE), the same organization
responsible for the coordination of TEIN2, TEIN3 aims to further
improve intra-regional connectivity across Asia at upgraded link
capacities, and expand geographical coverage to include South Asia.
Denis
Villorente, Director of the DOST-ASTI, says of the Philippines'
collaboration on the TEIN initiative, "we are very fortunate to be part
of TEIN2, and now, TEIN3, because it has paved the way for the country
to participate in pioneering research collaborations using advanced
networks. The Philippines is one of the countries that has benefited
from its connection to TEIN3. For instance, this connectivity has
played a key role in the timely transmission of meteorological data
from Germany's weather bureau to the local weather bureau, enabling
up-to-date weather forecasts." He adds, "Another field that has taken
advantage of the network is crop research. TEIN3 facilitates
data-intensive collaborative research among rice scientists in
different parts of the world."
David West, DANTE Project
Manager, shares the vision for TEIN3, he says, "TEIN3 will continue to
support innovative applications with high societal impact. It has a
catalyst role in establishing and developing NRENs in the region's
developing countries, and essentially, our aim is to prepare the ground
for long-term sustainable research networking in the Asia Pacific
region." He emphasizes, "the end-goal is to transfer project
responsibility to Asian ownership."
In the upcoming Asia
Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies
(APRICOT) 2009, TEIN3 will have its formal Philippine launch.
Villorente adds, "this is an opportune time to launch TEIN3 in the
Philippines. Since ASTI started operating PREGINET in 2001, we have
been promoting research and education networking and its potential to
improve research collaborations. Right now, very few Philippine
universities are engaged in collaborative research activities. With the
launching of TEIN3, we hope to expose the value of such an
infrastructure to our local ICT industry, universities, and partners.
During the launch, our local partners will talk about their activities
over the network.”
Simultaneous with the launch of TEIN3 is a
half-day session on the state and future of the Philippine Internet.
For more information, the event URL is www.apricot2009.net .
if you are having problems viewing the web stream below please click here .
TEIN3 Philippines Launching
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