The Works of DANTE - Issue 5

Extensions to ALICE and EUMEDCONNECT Projects announced

 Research and development collaboration in Latin America and the Mediterranean/North African region has been safeguarded by the extension of European Union-funded networking projects into 2007.

RedCLARA, the network created by the ALICE project, went live in 2004 and funding has now been extended until 31st March 2007. Cathrin Stöver, ALICE project manager, said "This is great news for research networking in Latin America. Thirteen of the partners are already connected, and more will join in the coming months. The funding extension will support ongoing initiatives to build the RedCLARA user base, develop the national networks of the newer partners, and facilitate upgrades to some partner connections."

 ALICE has already enabled both educational and social projects such as the T@lemed initiative. This provides e-health services to isolated regions of Brazil and Colombia, allowing doctors to remotely diagnose conditions and prescribe treatments to patients from thousands of kilometres away. Other projects to benefit from the network’s link to Europe, via GÉANT2, include AUGERACCESS and EELA, which both aim to develop shared e-Infrastructures between Latin America and Europe.

"We congratulate you on your achievements thus far and look forward to seeing the research and education communities of Latin America and Europe benefit from further strong results," said Riccardo Gambini, head of unit, AIDCO B.2, the EU body responsible for funding ALICE. "The development of new national networking organisations across the region and planned EU-Latin American research projects demonstrate the benefits that close collaboration has for both the academic and wider communities."

 The EUMEDCONNECT project has also been extended until July 2007 or later and currently covers 11 countries. Co-ordinated by DANTE, the network is supported by the national research networks RENATER (France), GRNET (Greece), GARR (Italy) and RedIRIS (Spain).

Current EUMEDCONNECT users include the Strabon e-culture project, which brings together researchers, historians and archaeologists to support sustainable tourism, AVICENNA, which has created a virtual campus for open distance learning and the planned connection of Egypt’s Alexandria Library to the network allowing the region’s rich cultural history to be shared online.

"Bridging the digital divide is key if the wider global community is to reap the benefits of information technology," commented Dai Davies, general manager, DANTE. "The contract extensions for ALICE and EUMEDCONNECT build on the strong successes these networks have already achieved and enable true collaboration between researchers across the globe. They demonstrate that the approach we pioneered with GÉANT in Europe can form the template for a worldwide research community."

Read the latest news on ALICE at www.dante.net/alice  and on EUMEDCONNECT at www.eumedconnect.net