Speaker
Boubakar Barry
CEO, West and Central African Research and Education Network, Senegal
Boubakar Barry is CEO of WACREN, the West and Central African Research and Education Network. Prior to joining WACREN, he was Coordinator of the Research and Education Networking Unit at the Association of African Universities (AAU).
He was Director of the Computer Centre of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, where he is also lecturer in Computer Networks and Electronics.
Mr. Barry is Chairman of the Network Information Centre of Senegal that manages the country-code top level domain .SN.
He holds a MSc in Nuclear Physics and a PhD in Nuclear Electronics, both from Technical University of Dresden, Germany.
Title: Research and Education Networking in Africa – Status
Abstract:
Research and Education Networks (RENs) are quite a new concept in Africa. First RENs emerged in Africa in the mid 2000s.
Today, there are NRENs in approximately in half of the countries in Africa. These NRENs are organized in 3 regional RENs: the UbuntuNet Alliance for Eastern and Southern Africa, the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN) for West and Central Africa and the Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN), home of the Northern African NRENs.
The presentation gives an overview of RENs in Africa and provides information on their status. It also introduces AfREN, a collaboration platform for African REN stakeholders and their partners.
