As the NgREN platform grows, Nigerian universities with membership in the network will enjoy access to numerous international databases, including SCOPUS, the Labour Market Information System, and ScienceDirect, as well as future access to legal databases and other useful tools for educators and students. NgREN is also hard at work expanding the capacity of the network, working with national research and education networks and other groups to funnel development support while providing a platform from which Nigerians can gain further expertise in IP management and network design.
The Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN), founded in 2012 in order to deliver 21st-century technology to institutions of higher education in Nigeria, has been highly active in bringing the best digital technology to its members. At the core of its services is the network itself, a 10-gigabits-per-second backbone leased through Phase3 Telecoms and Airtel Nigeria. The network has cores in four cities across the country, with plans to increase this number to 14. This backbone allows for services that include voice-over Internet protocol, or VoIP, a precursor to a planned unified communications solution, and high-definition videoconferencing, which can be delivered as a package that includes hardware and training.
As the NgREN platform grows, Nigerian universities with membership in the network will enjoy access to numerous international databases, including SCOPUS, the Labour Market Information System, and ScienceDirect, as well as future access to legal databases and other useful tools for educators and students. NgREN is also hard at work expanding the capacity of the network, working with national research and education networks and other groups to funnel development support while providing a platform from which Nigerians can gain further expertise in IP management and network design.
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When Williams F1 needed help developing teaching resources for its corporate responsibility initiatives, it came to Cambridge-Hitachi. By the time the project was complete, it had won the 2010 Bett Award for Primary Digital Content and earned a 10 out of 10 rating from Teach Primary, a top magazine in primary education.
The goal of the program was to create an educational resource with an F1 theme that would be engaging to Williams F1’s target demographic. Cambridge-Hitachi began by conducting market research, after which it determined that a program with weekly topics aimed at children in upper primary school would best help kids retain their interest in science. The end result of Cambridge-Hitachi and Williams F1’s work was a program called Race to Learn. Aimed at children between 9 and 11 years of age, it was intended to appeal to gifted kids as well as reluctant learners. In Race to Learn, kids create racing teams and tackle real-world problems like car design, balancing a budget, and courting sponsors. Along the way, they pick up skills linked to their school curriculum. Since 1999, when the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the idea, August 12 has been recognized as International Youth Day. This year, the day’s theme of "Youth and Mental Health" presented an opportunity to raise awareness of the many challenges that mental illness presents to young people throughout the world.
The World Health Organization estimates that about 280 million youths around the world struggle with some form of mental illness. To discuss this all-too-prevalent issue in depth, mental health professionals convened a forum in Lagos, Nigeria. At the forum, Lagos State Deputy Governor Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire reiterated Nigeria's commitment to promoting awareness of mental health issues among the country’s youth. Boosting both the government’s and the private sector’s investment in mental health initiatives, she said, will help secure the well-being of the nation's future leaders. Envera Selimovic, senior public information officer at the UN Information Centre in Lagos, added that stigmatization of mental illness remains a major challenge. To more effectively tackle the problem, social views on mental illness need to be reshaped. As part of a continuing effort to build strong relationships with the prime movers of the IT industry, officials from the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN) met with representatives of Juniper Networks in mid-August.
A leading developer of educational Internet infrastructure in Africa, NgREN is at the forefront of a number of critical technology initiatives throughout the region. Juniper Networks is a major American manufacturer of networking equipment, including routers, Ethernet switches, and security products. The company's devices are already used to connect many of the world's top research institutions. With this solid background, Juniper is making an effort to grow its presence in the education sector globally. Juniper met with NgREN to discuss phase II of the Africa Connect project, which will provide southern and eastern Africa with reliable, high-speed Internet capability to support the region's burgeoning research collaboration needs. Attendees also examined NgREN's role in peering with other research and education networks at the London Open Exchange. In addition, as a sign of its solidifying partnership with NgREN, Juniper pledged to provide further information regarding training in its proprietary operating system; academic use discounts; and access to support and products such as its Virtual Laboratory. |
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