Education networks ask AU to help lobby governments

The African national research and education networks or NRENs have called on the African Union (AU) to help lobby African governments to recognise the work they do to enable technology and provide internet connectivity and other research and education tools to institutions in their countries.

COVID-19 exposed the weak campus network and national internet infrastructure for education and research purposes and the need for governments to invest in strengthening these aspects.

The appeal was made during the opening of the 14th annual conference of UbuntuNet Alliance, the regional research and education networking organisation for Eastern and Southern Africa.

UbuntuNet Connect 2020, done virtually this year on 18 November, focused on the theme “Positioning Research and Education During Crises”.

Confusion over role

Dr Julianne Sansa-Otim, the vice-chairperson of UbuntuNet Alliance, said African NRENs were struggling to effectively operate in their respective countries as most of them do not enjoy support from their governments. NRENs promote access to critical scientific resources at affordable prices, capacity-building, content development and co-creation platforms.

Some governments and their line ministries look at NRENs as internet service providers bent on making profits, said Sansa-Otim.

“This has resulted in little or no government support to NRENs making it difficult for the NRENs to execute their obligations,” she said.

“As our community deliberates on the COVID-19 crisis during this meeting, we would like to appeal to the AU to help in recognising and providing funding for formulation and implementation of strategies that can sustain teaching and learning during crises of this nature,” she added.

Networks reduce digital divide

Dr Moctar Yedaly, head of the Information Society Division at the African Union Commission, responded to say the research and education community had raised genuine concerns that would be looked into critically by the AU.

Yedaly commended the regional and national research and education networks for promoting research and education on the continent and commended three African regional research and education networks, particularly the AfricaConnect project. The project supports the creation, development and use of advanced, reliable internet connectivity for the teaching, learning and research communities of Africa.

“The works of these networks have helped reduce the digital divide in Africa and that is in line with the objectives and goals of the African Union Commission,” said Yedaly.

Dr Matthews Mtumbuka, the CEO of UbuntuNet Alliance, hailed the research and education community in Africa for standing firm and leading in providing solutions to the education community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As members of the research and education community, we have been one of the busiest players as we have not only been hit with the effects of COVID-19, but we are also being seen as providers of solutions to the challenges brought about by the pandemic,” he said.

Mtumbuka said UbuntuNet Alliance, in collaboration with NREN members in Somalia, Zambia, South Africa, Uganda, and Kenya, had shown resilience towards promoting research and education during the pandemic.

The success of NRENs is rooted in work done in Africa over the past decade. The Association of African Universities (AAU) has supported the development of NRENs in Africa since 2005 after vice-chancellors of universities in Africa tasked the association with supporting the improvement of access to connectivity for educational and research institutions.

This is according to Nodumo Dhlamini, director of ICT services and knowledge management at the AAU.

The NREN model has been tried and tested globally with NRENs in Europe, North America, South America and elsewhere effectively connecting their educational and research institutions so that they are part of the information society through access to powerful e-infrastructure and related e-services, she said.

“For NRENs to become mature and successful in Africa, we need them to be fully supported by their governments in terms of funding and recognition by the national regulatory authorities,” Dhlamini told University World News.

Investment in internet infrastructure

NRENs must also be supported to operate as independent organisations with robust governance structures so that they are able to effectively serve educational and research institutions, she said.

On the need for African governments’ recognition of NRENs, she said one of the weaknesses exposed by COVID-19 was the weak campus network infrastructure and national internet infrastructure for education and research purposes.

African governments need to invest in supporting the development of this infrastructure and ensuring that there is connectivity up to the ‘last mile’ such as the unconnected rural areas, she said.

“It is the role of a government to build internet infrastructure — just as it is with roads and water systems,” Dhlamini said, adding that education and research communities cannot be handled in the same way as the corporate, for-profit sectors as “this is a special community with special needs, or else Africa will be left behind”.

“The sustainable business model for education and research communities is for money to be made from the services demanded by the education or research community and not from selling access to connectivity,” Dhlamini explained.