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 .

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TEIN3 Philippines Launching