Product category:
Process control and networking
News Release from: Dante | Subject: Black Sea Interconnection
Edited by the Laboratorytalk Editorial
Team on 04 March 2008
Making the Silk Route an information
superhighway
Black Sea Interconnection (BSI) project will build a regional research and education network among south Caucasus countries and link them to Geant2, the high bandwidth, pan-European research network
This flagship project is the largest of its kind in the region and will allow Caucasian research communities to participate effectively in joint research and educational activities with the rest of Europe The European Commission provides euro1.4 million funding for the BSI project within 7th Framework Programme for R+D
This article was originally published on Laboratorytalk on 18 Jun 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Geant2 drives high speed supercomputer projects
Private network of point-to-point links deployed by Geant2 will enable researchers to gain faster access to Deisa's shared file system, supporting ground-breaking applications in computational science
Network underpins high speed astronomy research
UK astronomers using the Geant2 network now have the ability to track transient events right at the edge of the known universe, through the European Union's (EU) Expres project
The BSI project will bridge the digital divide between the South Caucasian National Research and Education Networks, namely Grena (Georgia), Azrena (Azerbaijan), Nas RA (Armenia), and Europe by establishing a high-speed backbone network in the South Caucasus region and connecting it to the pan-European Geant2 network.
The Turkish National Research and Education Network, Tubitak Ulakbim, co-ordinates the Black Sea Interconnection venture - this being a flagship project and the largest project coordinated by Turkey in the Framework Programme.
"Building on the excellent results achieved in south-eastern Europe, the BSI project aims at reducing the digital divide between the countries surrounding the Black Sea and Europe," said Viviane Reding, EU commissioner for information society and media.
Further reading
Bridging the digital divide from Africa to Europe
African research capacity is to be boosted through a high speed network link connecting the UbuntuNet Alliance to the international research community via the Geant2 network
Asia-Pacific research networking boosted
Collaboration between researchers in the Asia-Pacific region and their peers across the globe has been extended by euro18 million investment in the new Tein3 high speed research and education network
A new era in data recording
Martin Binney, product manager at ABB, explains the benefits that electronic data recorders can bring and how they can be used to transform the way in which process data is collected and used
"Our support to research network infrastructures not only facilitates cooperation of scientists on a global scale but also provides access to modern online services which have significant impact on sectors like medicine, education and meteorology.
"These are tangible benefits for both researchers and the whole population".
Interconnecting the southern Caucasus via a regional backbone network and providing a high-speed link to Geant2 and Europe enables the introduction of new services to the region and is an important step towards the integration of the Caucasian scientific potential with the Europe and the rest of the world.
This will bridge the digital divide between the south Caucasus countries and Europe, enabling greater collaboration on scientific projects all around the world.
The Black Sea Interconnection represents an invaluable opportunity to realise the objectives of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).
It will help BSEC to concentrate directions of regional scientific and technological collaboration, sharing best practices, undertaking joint projects of common interest to all member states and stipulating cooperation among the BSEC member states and with other organisations, in particular with the EU via the advanced Geant2 network.
"The Black Sea Interconnection is not only integrating and linking the research and education communities in the southern Caucasus with Europe, but also functions as a role model to extend the scope of its achievements across the whole Black Sea Region to Central Asia by introducing substantial interregional elements," said Cem Sarac, director of Tubitak Ulakbim.
This transforms the former Silk Route into a modern e-Silk Route by realising a network endowed by high capacity connections.
The Black Sea Interconnection project runs for 24 months from 1 March 2008 onwards.
The regional network and the connection to Geant2 is planned to be operational later in 2008.
• Dante: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Laboratorytalk email newsletter
• Laboratorytalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
