Building a Bridge to Connect Asian Academics with the World
One of the latest efforts was the UPROUSE with LEARN program. In partnership with APNIC, the Royal University of Bhutan, and the Laos Education and Research Network, LEARN supported the NRENs of both nations. It also helped several other countries in the region. Prof. Roshan Ragel, the project's lead, and Engineer Thilina Pathirana from Sri Lanka, who provided administrative support, were asked to share details about the program and Sri Lanka's role in assisting Bhutan and Laos.
"It all began with a conversation I had with Sonam Penjor of Bhutan, who I had just met at a conference. He saw the work we had done with LEARN and requested me to conduct a training programme for the Bhutanese NREN. Overhearing this, Sotsay Sengvong made the same request on behalf of Laos"
The three of them then established the curriculum, objectives, and milestones for the programme under the guidance of Prof. Ragel. A proposal was soon pitched to and funding approved under a grant by the Asi@Connect project. For the unfamiliar, the EU co-founded Asi@Connect project offers a dedicated regional high-capacity and high-quality internet network, Trans-Eurasia Information Network (TEIN), for research and education (R&E) communities across Asia-Pacific and Europe, and leverages e-infrastructures developed for public service projects.
Asi@Connect is managed by the regional networking organization TEIN*Cooperation Center (TEIN*CC). TEIN*CC was endorsed by the ASEM8 Summit in Brussels in October 2010. TEIN*CC actively collaborated with other regional R&E network oraganisation around the world to provide better opportunities for research and education to the TEIN community.
Having secured funding Sonam and Sotsay made the programme possible by taking the roles of Administrative support for their rspective countries. From the onset, the vision of the UPROUSE with LEARN initiative was a simple yet bold one: upgrading the NRENs of both Bhutan and Laos. Towards making this vision a reality, the programme comprises a series of workshops followed by checkup meetings and evalutions.
"From the inception, our focus was to uplift the network of Laos and Bhutan. We're not just conducting workshops but rather following up and assisting them in appliying the kowledge inculated"