Research and Education Network Nepal: Problems and Prospects

1
Research and Education Network Nepal Problems
and Prospects
APAN South Asia Net Group Meeting Bangkok,
Thailand 18 December 2003

• Binod Vaidya
• Center for Information Technology
• Institute of Engineering
• Tribhuvan University
• Nepal

2
Introduction
3
Background

• 4 Universities dealing with technology courses
• Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu - 1959
• Kathmandu University, Dhudikhel - 1992
• Pokhara University, Pokhara - 1997
• Purwanchal University, Biratnagar 1995
• 1 University (only Sanskrit Language)
• Mahendra Sanskrit University

4
Tribhuvan University (TU)

• Tribhuvan University is oldest and largest
  University
• 61 Constituent Campuses
• 222 Affiliated Campuses.
• Total number of students in Constituent campuses
  138,500
• More than 150,000 students in Affiliated campuses

5
Distribution of Campuses region wise
Constituent Campuses
Affiliated Campuses
6
Overall Student Population

• Student population distribution in constituent
  institute/faculty only

7
Institute of Engineering (IOE)

• Established in 1972
• One of institutes of TU.
• To produce technicians and engineers capable of
  meeting national aspirations for accelerated
  development of country.
• Four Constituent campuses
• Pulchwok Campus Thapathali Campus in Kathmandu
• Western Region Campus in Pokhara
• Eastern Region Campus in Dharan
• Six private affiliated Colleges.
• About 1800 students in Pulchowk Campus alone

8
Center of Information Technology (CIT)

• Established in 1997
• One of autonomous units in IOE
• Objective is
• to provide IT facilities to faculty, staff and
  students
• to conduct research and development and
  consultancy works related to IT.
• VSAT terminal and equipment for Internet
  connectivity
• Optical fiber backbone within Pulchowk premises
  and large computing facilities.

9
Current Network Infrastructure at CIT/IOE

• Network Link and Users
• VSAT link 512kbps/128kbps (downlink/uplink)
• Thaicom Satellite
• C-band system
• Bangkok as hub to internet
• LAN Users 1800
• Dial-Up Users 300

10
Current Network Infrastructure at CIT/IOE

• Equipment at Main Server Room at CIT
• No of Routers 2
• Satellite Modem (upto 2 Mbps) 1
• RAS Server (96 pools of digital/analog modems)
  1
• Switch (24-port Opto Electrical Switch) 2
• DNS, Web, Mail, Proxy, DHCP Servers 6
• Existing IOE Network
• Optical Fiber Backbone cabling for
  Interdepartmental Connections
• About 900 PCs ranging from Pentium I to IV.

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Research and Education Network Nepal

• Establishment of RENN under administration of IOE
• to cater national and international
  collaborations for facilitating research and
  educational developments
• to meet growing needs of academic and research
  community in Nepal
• Non-commercial Network

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Aims and Objectives of RENN

• To set up IT infrastructure to connect all
  universities / institutions and campuses within
  Nepal
• To develop self-study centers by providing
  electronic library databases, Internet,
  multimedia, and other self-study material
• To develop social-learning systems by creating
  multimedia courseware, and providing knowledge
  databases and distance learning systems.
• To deliver increased opportunities for
  collaboration in research
• To facilitate transfer of technology between
  academic and research institutions
• To train teachers and assistants to be able to
  apply IT for educational development
• To establish national database for academic
  institutions and educational research provide
  systematic educational information to help
  establish information application system for
  academic institutions.
• To encourage institutions participating in
  bilateral cooperative arrangements to bring them
  into multilateral relationships

13
RENN Organization

• Divided into 4 levels of organization
• RENN Advisory Board
• RENN Management Board
• Education Network Panel
• Information Resource Panel

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Advisory Board

• Representative from Ministry of Education
• Representative from Ministry of Science and
  Technology
• Representative from Ministry of Finance
• Representative from National Planning Commission
• Representative from Ministry of Information and
  Communication/ Nepal Telecommunication Authority
  (NTA)
• Representative from Nepal Telecommunication
  Corporation (NTC)
• Dean, Institute of Engineering
• Campus Chief, Pulchowk Campus
• Director, Center for Information Technology,
  Pulchowk Campus
• Representative from Kathmandu University
• Representative from Pokhara University
• Representative from Purwanchal University

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Advisory Board (cont..)

• Representative from Faculty of Management, TU
• Representative from Institute of Science and
  Technology, TU
• Representative from Institute of Medicine, TU
• Representative from University Grants Commission
  (UGC)
• Representative from Royal Nepal Academic Science
  and Technology (RONAST)
• President, Computer Association Nepal (CAN)
• President, Society of Electronics and
  Communication Engineers Nepal (SECEN)
• President, Information Technology Professional
  Forum (ITPF)
• President, Association of Computer Engineers
  Nepal (ACEN)

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Management Board

• Campus Chief, Pulchowk Campus
• Director, Center for Information Technology
• Head, Department of Electronics and Computer
  Engineering, Pulchowk Campus
• IT Expert from Kathmandu University
• IT Expert from Pokhara University
• IT Expert from Purwanchal University
• IT Expert from Faculty of Management, TU
• IT Expert from Institute of Science and
  Technology, TU
• IT Expert from Institute of Medicine, TU
• IT Expert from one of IOE Affiliated Campuses

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Services

• Network infrastructure and services set up shall
  include
• Installation, maintenance and operation of large
  Campus LANs
• Seamless interconnection of LAN-WAN segments, and
  multi-protocol capability provided
• Deployment of wired and wireless networks for
  Internet access
• Provision of whole range of Internet services
• Provision of e-learning and distance education

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Current Status

• Central TU offices and Exam controller Office are
  using dial-up connection
• TU Constituent as well as affiliated Campuses
  within Kathmandu valley are connected by dial-up
  service
• Ministry of Education is also connected to CIT
  network

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Proposed Network Infrastructure

• Network shall be build at three-layer
  hierarchical principle
• Main Networking Center at IOE
• University Networking Centers in
• Central TU
• Kathmandu University
• Pokhara University,
• Puwanchal University
• Campus network in each campus

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Proposed Network Infrastructure

• Main Networking Center
• is located in IOE at CIT Building
• acts as gateway to Internet
• Dedicated Intranet servers located.
• Academic institutions and campuses are connected
  either
• directly to Main Networking Center or
• via University Networking Centers are located in
  different parts of Nepal

21
Proposed Network Topology
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Constraints and problems

• Lack of policies and regulations for
  non-commercial educational network
• No tax or license fee exemption for
  non-commercial educational network
• Lack of telecommunication facilities in all
  development regions
• Lack of ICT facilities in most of campuses
  outside Kathmandu Valley
• Lack of infrastructure and physical facilities
• Lack of investment for educational network
• High cost of internetworking devices
• High cost of Internet Bandwidth through VSAT

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Prospects

• Ministry of Science and Technology has assured to
  formulate appropriate policies and regulations.
• Ministry of Education is keen to support on
  establishing RENN
• TU as well as IOE authorities are positive on
  establishing RENN
• Foreign institutions are willing to help for not
  only establishment but also sustainable operation
  of RENN

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Future Plan

• Upgrading the facilities of IOE
• VSAT Bandwidth - Increase to 1Mbps/512kbps
• Connection to IOM and Central TU using dedicated
  lines using Wi-Fi networks
• Connection to IOE constituent as well as
  affiliated colleges Wi-Fi networks or leased
  lines
• Connection to Kathmandu University (KU) by leased
• Building Intranet
• Collaborations with foreign institutions/
  organizations for various ICT RD and network
  connectivity

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QAThank you!

• bvaidya_at_ioe.edu.np