Egypt connected to GLORIAD Network

In December 2011 following a two year planning process, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Egypt connected Egyptian scientists, educators and students in Egypt with the GLORIAD Network enabling them to participate in research programs around the world by connecting universities, research facilities and schools throughout the U.S. with peer institutions in Egypt.

Within three months of the launch of the GLORIAD network in Cairo, network usage was reported to having peaking at 100 Mbps.

The Global Ring Network for Advanced Applications Development (GLORIAD) is a high-speed network enabling scientists, students and educators to collaborate on a daily basis using today's most advanced communications and information technology tools. It is an Internet for science dedicated to support research, education and medical science.

In addition to its partners in Egypt (Egyptian Ministry of Scientific Research and the Egyptian Academy of Sciences), GLORIAD partners with the e-Arena consortium of research and education networks in Russia, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Korean Institute of Science and Technology Information, SURFnet in the Netherlands, NORDUnet in the Nordic countries, CANARIE in Canada, SingAREN in Singapore, VINAREN in Vietnam and the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research in India.

In December 2011, GLORIAD hosted the first school-to-school exchange over the new network, involving the STEM Academy High School, a technology magnet elementary school in Knoxville, Tennessee, and GLORIAD's partners in Cairo.

The project, which is jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Egyptian Ministry of Science, supports the development of new collaborative science projects for K-12 and beyond, facilitated by high-speed audio and video quality that the advanced connection provides. The high-speed link also opens up unique opportunities for sharing museums' experiences across the globe.

The US-Egypt link was enabled by a 2010 donation by Tata Communications with help by Telecom Egypt/TEData and GLORIAD's partners at Starlight/Chicago, in Canada, Netherlands and the Nordic countries. It connects with US research networks including the National Lamba Rail, Internet2, ESnet for the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, and the federal research and education networks for all U.S. federal research organizations.

Source: GLORIAD