The Works of DANTE - Issue 2

New GÉANT link connects South Africa to Europe.

GÉANT continues to extend its geographical reach, with a new connection from London to South Africa. Currently still a test-bed connection, this will be upgraded to a full 155 Mbp/s connection to SANReN, the future South African National Research and Education network.

The connection opens up an untapped seam of research collaboration opportunities and will allow South African researchers access to over 3,500 European research and education institutions. It will also stimulate the development of the South African national research network. Other positive impacts of research networking will have knock-on benefits for social, health and economic development. The achievements of the ALICE project in Latin America provide a good example of the potential benefits of this new link.

The new link is a result of close EU-South African collaboration. Speaking at the IST event in The Hague, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, the South African Minister for Science and Technology, said “In Europe ICTs have dramatically improved access to information, and there is an enormous potential to do the same in developing countries.”