ICT network to aid research and education
The Information and Communications Technology Ministry has established a high-speed international Internet network to support the research and development and education sectors and enhance the skills of Thai researchers and students at universities.
The network will link up with TEIN2 (Trans-Eurasia Information Network), which is the backbone infrastructure behind building Asian and Euro-Asian Internet connectivity. Built by Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe (DANTE), a European non-profit organisation, which constructs and operates pan-European research networks, TEIN2 provides a continuous and consistent environment for electronic collaboration for research and education between Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Ajin Jirachiefpattana, head of the ICT Ministry's Infrastructure Management Group, said the link to the TEIN2 network aimed to support local students and researchers when they work on R&D related to the social, technology and economic spheres. Ajin said the ministry planned to spend Bt20 million to provide international bandwidth at speeds of up to 155 megabits per second to link with TEIN2. Meanwhile, it plans to offer 10Mbps of bandwidth to the Lao government, which will also open up the network to its researchers. Set up in 2004, the TEIN2 network is expected to support Asian research and education until 2007. After that, DANTE plans to upgrade the network to TEIN3, which will run from 2008 to 2012. The initial locations will be the existing participants in TEIN2. The new TEIN infrastructure aims to provide innovative research and educational collaboration and support broader humanitarian objectives within the region. Ajin said the ministry's linkage would move to support TEIN3 in the future.
Jirapan Boonnoon The Nation
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