PAKISTAN EDUCATION RESEARCH NETWORK Pakistan Education Research Network

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Pakistan Education & Research Network (PERN) www. pern. edu. pk Presented by Engr. Javed Ali Memon Liaison Officer (PERN) Higher Education Commission (HEC) Islamabad-Pakistan Email: Jmemon@hec. gov. pk 20 th APAN Meeting Taipei, Taiwan 1

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Contents • Organization Introduction (HEC) – An Introduction – – HEC Mission Strategic Aims HEC Programs Technology Infrastructure • Pakistan Education & Research Network – – – – Background & Objectives Core Network & Architecture PERN Connectivity Summary Available & Planned Services Digital Library PERN Development Forum (PDF) PERN Upgradation Projects PERN & APAN 2

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK HEC Mission “To Facilitate Institutions of Higher Learning to serve as an Engine of Socio-Economic Development of Pakistan” 3

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Strategic Aims • • • Faculty Development Curriculum Development Improving Access & Learning Excellence in Research Relevance to National Priorities Infrastructure Development ( Free Access to Literature, Free Access to Sophisticated Instruments, Technology Assisted Learning) • Good Governance & Management • Quality Assurance (Standards, Assessment, Accreditation) • Promoting Research Culture in Pakistan 4

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK HEC Programs • Post-Doctoral, Ph. D & Master Fellowship Programs (Local and International) • Foreign Faculty Hiring Program • National & International Research Grants Programs for Universities • Pakistan Organization of Collaborative Research (POCR) • Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council for Pakistan (SSHRC) • Digital Library Program • Pakistan Education & Research Network (PERN) • Students Affairs Programs • Quality Assurance Programs • Accreditation & Attestation Services 5

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Technology Infrastructure Leveraging Information Technology • • • University Computerization & Networking – Computer Laboratories – Campus wide high-speed LAN – Business Process Automation PERN Digital Library PAKSAT – 1 – Free use of bandwidth for educational purposes Distance Education – Virtual University – Educational TV Channels – Video Lecturing Information Management System – Universities Web Portals – HEC Internal & External Workspace Portal – PERN Website 6

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Pakistan Education & Research Network (PERN) • Background – Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN) is part of the overall vision and objectives of IT Action Plan of Government of Pakistan – Leverage the existing Telecom infrastructure to boost Bandwidth 7

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK PERN Objectives • Provide state of the art Telecomm infrastructure and services to Educational and Research institutions • A dedicated Educational Network for Public/Private Universities & Higher learning Institutions registered with the HEC Government of Pakistan. • The interconnectivity Between all universities / institutes which will provide integration of data banks, collaboration for research and development activities and up-gradation of teaching and learning skills. • Access of Digital Library • Provision of Internet Services (hosting and provide relevant information to their users) • To develop a network which functions like a Enterprise/VPN/Vo. IP • Availability of Offline Contents • Connectivity with Other Educational Networks worldwide. • Access Platform for Distance Learning and Video Conferencing facilities. 8

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Sponsors • • Higher Education Commission Ministry of IT & Telecomm Pakistan Telecommunication Ltd (PTCL) National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) 9

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK PERN Core Network • Using the Existing Optical Fiber System of PTCL/NTC and IP/ATM backbone of NTC • The network design of PERN consists of three nodal points (Po. Ps) at Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi • The interconnectivity between Nodal Points is 50 Mbps. • The educational institutions are connected to their respective nodal point by minimum 2 Mbps link from the nearest exchange of NTC/PTCL using OFS, DXX , DRS, Radio or VSAT • The 155 Mbps Internet Bandwidth is distributed at three nodal points. 10

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK PERN Architecture 33 Mbps International Bandwidth Lahore Core Router/ATM 57 Mbps International Bandwidth 21 Universities LAN Switch University OFS DXX 65 Mbps International Bandwidth 50 Mbps Islamabad Core Router/ATM 50 Mbps Access Router DXX University 26 Universities University LAN Switch Access Router DRS OF Node 50 Mbps Karachi Core Router/ATM Customer DRS Replica of Kr. /Iba 12 Universities OFS University OFS DRS DXX University 11

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PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Application and Services • Current Services – – – • International Bandwidth, Public IP Addresses, High BW Data Transfer Digital Library: >17000 Journals Point-to-Point Videoconferencing Services Under Beta Trial – – – • Multipoint Videoconferencing COI Content Generation and Sharing system Open Source Knowledge Repository Planned Services – – – Video Lecturing and Web Streaming Vo. IP Distributed Content Servers: Knowledge Repositories Resource Sharing Automated Transactions Connectivity to International Research Networks 16

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Digital Library • Mission – To build and strengthen the research culture in Pakistan. – Integrate Digital Library usage into the educational and research process • INASP negotiated licenses and access with the publishers • 17000+ research Journals can also be access through PERN • Available Resources • PERI Resources – Springer Link – Blackwell Synergy – Ebscohost – Royal Society of Chemistry – Bentham Science – Mary Ann Liebert – Oxford University Press – Palgrave Macmillan – – – ISI Web of Knowledge Elsevier Science Direct British Library • University Resources – AMS – ACS – APS – AAPT – ASM – ACM – ASCE – ASAE – OSA – AIP – ASME 17

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK PERN Development Forum • Mission – To develop PERN into a world class Education and Research Network for collaboration of Pakistani Universities and Research Institutions amongst themselves and with researchers around the world. • PERN Development Forum Working Groups – – – – Live Applications Networking Issues Knowledge Repositories National Cache Open Source Implementation Technical Support PERN Website Shared Applications 18

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK PERN Upgradation Projects • PERN Core Upgradation – The project is designed to increase the Bandwidth (core) up to E 3 level and Increase the number of Po. Ps (Core Nodes) from 3 to 9 for PERN connected universities. – Capital Cost of project • Total Rs. 250. 679 Million – Annual Recurring expenditure after completion • Total Rs. 46. 2 Million • Last Mile PERN Connectivity of Universities (Extension to PERN) – To provide PERN connectivity to more universities to give our students, faculty members, administration the fully automated environment by using modern Information & Communication technologies. – Capital Cost of project • Total Rs. 174. 902 Million – Annual Recurring expenditure after completion • Total Rs. 31. 382 Million 19

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Video Conferencing • PERN is a infrastructure to conduct the distance learning programs. • HEC has funded Rs. 196 Million to purchase and setup the Video Conferencing equipment at 56 public sector universities and higher learning institutions. • This service will be augmented with two MCUs, one at each northern and southern regions of the country. 20

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Other Activities across Pakistan • • • Collaboration with CERN and SLAC on GRID Technology Research on GRID Architecture Software development for GRID Applications CMS Production Development of Urdu Language Software Extendable to Regional Language Open Source Software Initiatives E-Governance Program IT Infrastructure in Colleges/Polytechnics IT Programs for Provincial, District and City Governments Industrial Information Network (IIN) Initiatives for Promotion of Local Software Industry 21

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK PERN & APAN • PERN is a Primary Member of APAN • Need of Physical connectivity between PERN and APAN • Connectivity can be setup through any APAN Member Country • To Carry out Collaborative research with the Universities and Higher learning institutions of APAN members countries 22

PAKISTAN EDUCATION & RESEARCH NETWORK Conclusion • Pakistan has a strong telecommunication and networking infrastructure for educational research needs. • Linkage to APAN consortium will help both in contributing to the common cause of promoting education and research in the region. 23