R78m for ICT research network

May 16, 2012 12:55 pm 0 comments

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Cable 257x300 R78m for ICT research networkThe Department of Science and Technology (DST) will spend R78 million to extend the South African National Research Network (SANREN) connection to rural sites, including the remaining six higher education institutions that are unconnected.

While deadlines were not met – Science and Technology minister, Naledi Pandor, noted that targets would be met in the current financial year.

“I undertook to expand South African National Research Network (SANREN) connections to all universities by December 2011. Despite increased SANREN links we have not achieved our goal with all universities,” Pandor revealed.

In the last financial year SANREN was extended to 107 institutions, including two major global scientific projects, the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the SKA pathfinder, the MeerKAT.

SANReN is a high‑speed network that aims to connect more than 200 research and tertiary sites around the country with one another as well as with international research and education organisations around the globe.

SANReN is part of the DST’s national cyber infrastructure initiative and complements the Centre for High Performance Computing and the Very Large Database curation project operated by TENET.

In November last year, the DST announced it had completed phase 1 of the project which included the  completion and commissioning of the Cape Town metropolitan fibre network, and the completion of 10 Gbps links to each of the SALT and SKA sites.

Pandor also revealed that SADC countries had decided to create a research chairs initiative based South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARCI).

Locally, the National Research Foundation (NRF) issued a call for 60 new chairs in 2011 which are in the process of being filled.

“I am also excited to announce that our Swiss counterparts have agreed to partner with us in creating two joint SA/Swiss research chairs to give us the sixty two I promised last year making a total of 152. Also as promised the NRF established an additional 25 post doctoral fellowships each worth R180 000 per annum for three years,” Pandor revealed.

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