Abstract
Working in cooperation with the National Science Foundation since 1992, the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) has served as an efficient, cost-effective mechanism for assisting the NSF and US scientists to obtain Internet acce ss in developing areas by facilitating the establishment of connections to the public Internet in developing countries. The existence of these computer networks has greatly benefited the US scientific community and US agencies, as well as the local commun ities in which the networks now exist. By providing technical advice and engineering assistance to numerous countries around the world, and tracking international connectivity developments, the NSRC has established and maintains an extensive base of conta cts willing to contribute their time and expertise to further these efforts. Many of the network operators we have catalyzed and trained, and with whom we currently work, are the key personnel that established the first Internet access centers in their re spective countries. In return, they actively provide training and support in their regions to spread the acquired knowledge, putting special emphasis on scientific institutions when we request their help on behalf of NSF and US scientists. This ultimately enhances network operations globally, making it easier for US scientists to exchange data and engage in research projects with their international partners. By also facilitating technical collaboration with our US networking colleagues and previous recip ients of NSRC assistance, our effectiveness is considerably augmented by a large cadre of volunteer support, thereby providing very high leverage on the use of NSF funds.
The NSRC's work helps US scientists gain ready access to international resources by nurturing networking in areas of the world in which computer-based communications have traditionally been limited. We emphasize technical support and training to engine ers at academic institutions and research centers in developing areas, with the primary goal of making it easier for US scientists and engineers, and those in developing countries to have the means to collaborate via the Internet.
To date, the NSRC has contributed significantly to the creation of national and regional networks in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, several former Soviet states, the Asia/Pacific region, and to som e start-up K-12 network systems in the US. Central to the success of the NSRC has been its philosophy of empowering local users -- thereby fostering independence and, most important, sustainability -- together with an emphasis on the use of appropriate, a ffordable, and scalable technology.
The NSRC's emphasis on training, disseminating information, and providing technical support has contributed significantly to the development of stable computer networks, managed by local hands with local expertise. Widespread recognition of the importa nce of access to the Internet and of the accrued benefits of networking is an ongoing global development, which the NSF and the initial NSRC project have successfully helped to cultivate. This proposal seeks NSF support to continue our efforts for another three years, in assisting the establishment and expansion of developing area networks.
Overview
The Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) gathers, organizes, and disseminates information, training, and tools to organizations in developing countries, and underdeveloped areas of the United States, so they can acquire affordable networking technology and use it to join the public Internet. We achieve this by responding to specific requests from US scientists who seek help designing and building networks abroad, and by providing direct support to the in-country engineers and system administr ators. By making available and transferring technology, information, documentation, and training, the NSRC project enhances global networking operations. Supplying networking tools and support to American scientists needing to get connected from remote re search sites ultimately enhances the success of US scientific endeavors, and benefits all others involved in scientific efforts around the world.
The roots of the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) trace back to a volunteer effort to support networking in southern Africa in 1988, when Randy Bush designed, taught about, and helped deploy a multi-country (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimba bwe, and later many others) network using various technologies. Currently, the NSRC functions as a virtual global coordinating clearinghouse and service center working with universities, research institutions, networking organizations, governments, and in dividuals worldwide. As the original volunteers lent their time and expertise to those requiring assistance to start computer networks, it quickly became clear that there was considerable need for the information the NSRC was providing. Today, there are n umerous efforts to build networks in the less-connected countries of the world that have neither access to, nor funds for, private consulting assistance, particularly in universities and research institutes. The NSRC model of providing pro bono technical assistance to US scientists and the local network engineers, based on specific requests from them, greatly increases the likelihood of establishing sustainable TCP/IP networks. By empowering the network operators with the technical information, tools, and training that they request, we are able to hone in on their specific needs, and assist them in steadily enhancing the quality of the networks and the knowledge of the staff maintaining them.
The NSRC's work helps US scientists gain ready access to international resources by nurturing networking in areas of the world in which computer-based communications have traditionally been limited. We emphasize technical support and training to engine ers at academic institutions and research centers in developing areas, with the primary goal of making it easier for US scientists and engineers, and those in developing countries to have the means to collaborate via the Internet.
To date, the NSRC has contributed significantly to the creation of national and regional networks in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, several former Soviet states, the Asia/Pacific region, and to som e start-up K-12 network systems in the US. Central to the success of the NSRC has been its philosophy of empowering local users -- thereby fostering independence and, most important, sustainability -- together with an emphasis on the use of appropriate, a ffordable, and scalable technology.
We propose minimal funding of personnel time and support of networking facilities at a cost of about $265,000 per year, for three more years, to continue helping the nascent engineers and networking infrastructures in developing areas requesting techni cal assistance. The NSRC and the NSF would benefit from our ongoing collaboration with the University of Oregon Computing Center. Joanne Hugi, Director of the Computing Center, Dave Meyer, Director of the Advanced Network Technology Center (ANTC), and oth er staff members have regularly offered volunteer assistance to NSRC activities, as necessary. We propose to officially augment NSRC staffing by hiring Hervey Allen at .2 FTE, one of the UO Computing Center technicians who has been particularly useful to helping the NSRC achieve its goals. In working with the University of Oregon, the NSRC also provides numerous training and learning opportunities for students seeking networking experience, and this enables them to actively contribute to global Internet d evelopments. With additional support from NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, we have worked with several undergraduate students and we would propose to engage more undergraduates as part of a new award.
Statement of Need
The importance of Internet access and of the accrued benefits of networking is clearly established now in the international scientific community, and the NSF and the initial NSRC project contributed significantly to cultivating this awareness d uring the past decade. US research and engineering scientists rely on the Internet for collecting data from remote locations and for collaborating with R&E scientists throughout the developing world. Scientists travelling abroad now regularly use the Internet for communicating with colleagues and relaying data back to their home facilities in the US. The ease and timeliness of communication permitted by the dynamic functioning of the Internet contributes significantly to the success of international c ollaborative research and development projects.
The major goal of helping to develop TCP/IP connectivity to developing countries has largely been achieved, with at least one gateway connection now in almost all of the capital cities in the world. However, penetration to secondary cities and rural ar eas, where scientific research sites are often located, has been problematic. Low density of telephone lines, poor quality telecommunications infrastructure, expensive international links for the country's universities and Internet Service Providers, and solving last kilometer problems continue to hinder more widespread access and availability.
A prime example is the ongoing efforts by the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health to make Internet technology available to scientists at malaria research sites in Africa, who wish to collaborate with colleagues in the US. Several malaria research centers in Mali, Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, and other countries, have requested assistance with obtaining Internet connectivity so that they can access databases and medical literature in the US and communicate more easily with US resear chers and scientists who are helping to combat the continent's malaria problem. NLM/NIH is currently addressing this request by using NLM/NIH funds for site assessments, technical planning, purchasing and installing equipment, and providing training to he lp build networks in some of Africa's remote malaria research sites. However, once the initial links are in place, there will be ongoing technical issues with training of local personnel, maintaining the local networks, and building new ones. NLM/NIH rece ntly contacted the NSRC regarding collaboration with several of their potential partners; our role would be to provide training, documentation, and support to the local system administrators, particularly in the early phases of establishing the networks. We are currently discussing ways to enhance each other's work, so we can effectively assist our colleagues in Africa with acquiring better access to US information resources and expertise via the Internet.
In summary, the needs outlined in the two previous NSRC proposals have changed. As the networks in a country or region mature, and the user base grows, the needs shift from obtaining initial IP connectivity to more complex engineering problems, such as setting up cooperative exchange points to keep local traffic off of the thin international links. Another topic that we're seeing more frequently now is how to design efficient user support/help desk systems, as the TCP/IP networks are operational, and t he user base is growing rapidly.
The NSRC’s model of providing technical assistance, based on specific requests from groups that seek information and engineering advice, increases the likelihood for establishing sustainable TCP/IP networks. As the technology progresses, and the needs of our constituency evolve, the NSRC efficiently adapts to address the technical needs, as expressed by the engineers, scientists, and network operators calling for assistance.
Results from Prior NSF Support (NSF Grants NCR-9216064 and NCR-9616597)
The NSRC was awarded an initial three-year NSF grant through the International Nutrition Foundation in October 1992 to formalize the NSRC, which had been staffed entirely by volunteers prior to that. The NSRC moved its base of operations to the University of Oregon Computing Center in 1996, where a second NSF award began in October 1996. With the help of these two grants, the NSRC has built an organizational base for disseminating networking information to many engineers, universities, and Inte rnet Service Providers around the world, during a time when interest in connecting to the Internet has grown at an unprecedented rate worldwide. NSF support to the NSRC has been instrumental in enabling us to provide assistance to scientists and network e ngineers in need of technical help while building connections to the Internet.
Since the second NSF award began in fiscal year 1996, we have responded to well over one thousand requests for information and technical assistance from US scientists, developing country scientists and engineers, and developing area network operators. Following are a few representative examples of requests for assistance that the NSRC has received, and addressed, along with some other program highlights.
The NSRC has developed cooperative working relationships with O'Reilly and Associates, John Wiley & Sons, and Cisco Press to provide networking and computer science reference books to developing area networks, where technical documentation is often expensive, and difficult to obtain. These companies have donated more than $25,000 worth of technical books in both English and French to the NSRC. We use the books to help build technical libraries in locations where the resources can be freely shared - engineering and computer science departments, university libraries, and centrally-based networking facilities. Since creating this aspect of the NSRC in 1992, we have shipped hundreds of technical reference books to network engineers and university profe ssors in Angola, Benin, Cambodia, Congo-Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritania, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Senega l, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, and Uganda. The financial support provided by the National Science Foundation to cover the shipping costs of the donated books has resulted in a valuable service for network engineers, computer science professors, and s tudents in information-deprived areas of the world. This small amount of assistance builds tremendous goodwill for NSF in the universities, research centers, and network training facilities of the developing world.
Some examples of planning and engineering assistance to developing country networking initiatives, and support to US scientists using the networks, include:
The NSRC provides primary nameservice for several country code Top Level Domains, and secondary nameservice for several thousand zones in developing country networks. We have a student assistant at the University of Oregon Computing Center who helps wi th this, which enhances his opportunities for learning about DNS and developing area networks. The NSRC currently hosts or mirrors web servers for universities and research networks in Uganda, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and a particularly large one for Peru. We host numerous mailing lists for scientific projects in Belize, Tanzania, Uganda, a regional list for trade and commerce in Latin America, and a technical TCP/IP support list for hundreds of network engineers all over the world. We still provide UUCP email exchanges for some academic/research sites in Belize, Guatemala, Uganda and the Congo, remote POP mail services for travelling US scientists and developing area Internet users in need.
Proposed Activities
Technical Assistance and Coordination
Facilitating the installation of sustainable networks is largely dependent on access to information about regional initiatives, potential collaborators, technology alternatives, access providers, equipment suppliers, and putting potential donors of equipment or funding together with recipients. An important part of this network development strategy is pulling information together about efforts going on in parallel that might be coordinated in ways to leverage both into higher-quality services.
At the implementation level, the NSRC proposes to continue providing information in the following ways to those who need it:
Direct Engineering and Planning Assistance
The NSRC and our affiliated consulting staff have designed and installed networks, and trained engineers and network operators in developing areas, i.e. Southern Africa, Peru, Egypt, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Guinea, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Togo, Liberia, Uganda, etc. We have done this in response to specific requests from the network managers in these networks.
As costs are extremely variable, consulting is not specifically budgeted in detail. Each case has been different, and the funding agencies have varied from NSF to the World Bank, AAAS, the National Academy of Sciences, and others. At the direction of, and in collaboration with NSF, the NSRC would help locate training resources and appropriate personnel to provide engineering training for networks requesting assistance. In the Summary Proposal Budget, we have included a small amount of funding for consu lting as there are sometimes occasions when it would be appropriate to cover travel expenses and provide a small honorarium to consultants who would work in conjunction with NSRC personnel. Specific consultants, when needed, would be reviewed with the app ropriate NSF program officer.
Hosting Engineer Interns
Books and workshops are critical, but hands on experience in operating larger networks gives a new network engineer perspective and confidence which is not available by any other means. We have been doing this informally for the past several years, and the results have been very positive.
A typical internship varies in duration from two weeks to two months, and consists largely of sitting shoulder to shoulder with peers operating real networks in the US. Examples of past internship activities include: UNIX training, building BSD UUCP sy stems and SMTP gateways for UUCP, building and configuring a T1 POP, constructing prototypes of systems to be installed in home country networks (in the cases of Sri Lanka and Kenya, the actual systems were built and shipped after the engineers were train ed on them), touring US university networks, learning about how to build an exchange point, and attending IETF and NANOG meetings.
The University of Oregon has assisted with hosting and training engineering interns and would continue to do so under the auspices of the Advanced Network Technology Center. Travel, housing and other living expenses would have to be provided on a cost recovery basis, largely depending on the organization that requests the training.
Organizing Workshops
Hands-on training has proven to be the most effective tool for bringing new network staff up to speed. The NSRC and, more recently, many of our former students, have been involved in numerous training workshops around the world. The goal of some of these sessions has been actual installation of a network connection, while others have taken place in locations where network connections already exist, for more advanced training purposes.
The NSRC initiated a series of TCP/IP training workshops for engineers from developing countries, which were held at Stanford University, California in August 1993, and became what is now known globally as the INET workshops. Bush was the instigator, t he coordinator, and the lead instructor for the INET'93 training program, working with Geoff Sears, Steve Fram, Scott Weikart, John Klensin, and other NSRC colleagues. The NSRC also participated in the planning, organization, and teaching of the Universit y of Hawaii INET workshop in 1995, the 1996 INET workshop in Montreal, Canada in 1996, INET '97 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and INET'98 in Geneva, Switzerland. Since the Stanford workshop, the NSRC has hosted and facilitated the TCPWS mailing list, which p rovides a forum for students of TCP/IP workshops in which we've participated with a place to ask questions for technical assistance once they've returned home from the training.
The NSRC has also participated in coordinating, organizing, and teaching various NATO, United Nations, and Soros Foundation sponsored workshops in Russia, the Ukraine, and Armenia. Bush gave a routing workshop at CICESE in Ensenada, Mexico for academic networks, and co-taught a routing workshop with David Meyer at the VI Foro Permanente de Redes de América Latina y el Caribe in Santiago, Chile. Bush also instructed with Alvise Nobile at the first network training workshop held in Trieste, Italy in 1992, and with Ermanno Pietrosemoli at the first Escuela Latinoamericana de Redes
(EsLaRed) in Mérida, Venezuela in November 1992, which was an outgrowth of the Trieste training.
The NSRC emphasizes training new leadership in various countries so that primary responsibility for the work can be shifted to the senior network engineers of the respective regions. The NSRC’s approach to "train the trainers" is an effective model tha t we’ve consistently promoted in catalyzing many of the international TCP/IP workshops that are now quite popular around the world.
NSRC would be willing to organize and help staff task-specific technical workshops at the request of NSF and other organizations that promote research and education networking in the developing world. Workshops are not specifically budgeted as costs ar e extremely variable. As an extension of this task, the NSRC will, at the direction of and in collaboration with NSF, utilize supplemental resources to specifically seed network training and development activities in selected critical areas.
Help Desk/User Support Services
When asked, the NSRC is willing to provide advice and training to universities and ISPs that express a need for developing help desk services to support their users. Hervey Allen and the rest of the UO's user support team have offered to provide as sistance, documentation, software, tools, and training to groups that request help in this area. This can be quite important, particularly for a visiting US scientist that wants to use a local network facility. Having reliable and effective support servic es in place helps the network operate more efficiently, which can save users considerable time and resources.
Coordinating Equipment Donations
In many cases, we have observed that the critical factor preventing a network from being put into place is a single piece of hardware that is not very expensive, but may be difficult to procure in developing areas. When possible, we have coordinate d donations of hardware by bringing donors and recipients together. The NSRC has received donations from commercial Internet Service Providers and university networks of decommissioned equipment, such as modems, PCs, terminal servers, routers, cabling, et c. that we have been able to pass on to emerging networks. A recent example is the fourteen boxes of hardware that we relayed to NSF colleagues at Johns Hopkins University who are helping Makerere University in Uganda with building two departmental LANs.< /P>
We propose to continue soliciting donations of hardware, reconditioning them for use in developing country networks, as needed. We plan to further develop the framework we have established, including ways to match those who have equipment to donate wit h those who have expressed need for a particular piece of hardware. We are not asking NSF for any funding to support this aspect of our efforts, as funds for shipping can probably be obtained elsewhere.
Conclusion
The Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) has proven to be a cost-effective, technically efficient mechanism for facilitating the establishment of TCP/IP networks in developing countries and for enhancing networking activity globally. The deve lopment of international computer networks has had a demonstrable positive impact on the US scientific community, and other US agencies, as well as for the local communities in which the networks are established.
The NSRC brings considerable experience and perspective in designing and deploying Internet technology. Moreover, the extensive international contacts we have established and maintain are willing to contribute their time and expertise to enhancing glob al network operations, as evidenced by their participation in past NSRC activities. The tremendous goodwill that this small investment builds for NSF in developing universities and research institutions is well worth the long-term gain.
We propose minimal funding for another three years to continue assisting the local engineers and networks in the less connected parts of the world, by making available and transferring the requested tools, technology, information, and training necessar y for strengthening international networking operations.