UbuntuNet-Connect 2013 Conference Papers and Presentations
Permanent URI for this collection
This collection contains the paper presentations made at the UbuntuNet-Connect 2023 conference
Browse
Browsing UbuntuNet-Connect 2013 Conference Papers and Presentations by Title
Now showing 1 - 20 of 29
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item A Software-Based Solution for Distributing and Displaying UHD Video Content over Packet Networks with Applications to Telemedicine and Culture(2013-11-30) Ciuffo, Leandro; Filho, Souza; Aquino Junior, Lucenildo; Stanton, Michael; Reis, Clayton; Malaguti, Alvaro; Martins, Graciela; Messina, LuizSince 2009, RNP has participated in demonstrations related to streaming ultra-high-definition (UHD) content over packet networks. However, working UHD media requires the use of specialized equipment that usually is expensive and has limited availability in developing markets like Brazil. This has led RNP to foster the development of national technology for 4K equipment. Since 2011, RNP has funded a research group to develop a low-cost solution for 4K video-player and streamer. This approach relies on an architecture of distributed and parallelized software components that enables the building of 4K systems using COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) hardware. This represents an alternative to traditional 4K systems, presenting a better cost effectiveness ratio and may be useful to facilitate the large-scale deployment of such systems, especially in contexts where access to technological innovation is limited. In 2013, a pilot project funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture is deploying the RNP-funded 4K player/streamer in a set of six cinemas connected to the RNP backbone. Also this year, it was possible to attach a 4K camcorder to our layer/streamer, enabling the live streaming of 4K content. This was first used to stream an open-heart surgical procedure from a university hospital, member of the Telemedicine University Network RUTE [MCTI], to a visualization room, both located in the Brazilian city of Natal, around 30km apart. This paper presents this low-cost software-based solution for 4K player/streamer, in addition to describing the two aforementioned use cases.Item A Strategy for Developing High-end ICT talent for Emerging African NRENs – The case of KENET(2013-11-30) Kashorda, MeoliEmerging African National Research and Education build and maintain advanced broadband networks that interconnect universities and research institutes. In order to achieve their mandates, emerging NRENs must attract and retain a critical mass of high-end ICT talent to operate the broadband networks and develop innovative services to the higher education community (Haruta et al 2011). In most cases, the NRENs must rapidly develop a critical mass of networking staff to operate the networks and develop the services in a cost-effective fashion. This paper describes the strategy adopted by the Kenyan research and education network, KENET, to attract, develop and retain the necessary networking professionals that operate the broadband network. The strategy aims to create a pipeline of high-end ICT professionals from a large base of entry-level ICT staff that are recent graduates of electrical engineering, computer science and information systems. This paper concludes that this strategy could be adopted by other African NRENs and higher education institutions to develop the required critical mass of high-end ICT talent.Item Advantages of an Industry Membership Program for Emerging NRENs(2013-11-30) Savory, BrianItem AfricaConnect Extension Project Project Financed by European Union Astec Global ICT Consorti(2013-11-30) Adam, LishanItem AfricaConnect – the dream - the reality – milestones and progress(2013-11-30) Stöver, CathrinItem Content Alert System Using Short Message Service (SMS): A Testimony of two Collaborative Projects in Africa and Asia(2013-11-30) Anbu, John Paul; Jetty, SrideviThis paper is a case study of a semi-automated Content Alert System implemented at two university libraries; The university of Swaziland, Swaziland, Southern Africa and Bundelkhand University Library at Jhansi in India. Among the various mobile services, Short Message Service (SMS) is one of the most popular services widely used all over the world. The projects initiated at these libraries were intended to use the SMS service to provide an effective content alert system with very little cost impact on the libraries and at the same time aimed to increase the usage of library resources among the library patrons. The project ran in two phases. In the first phase a successful content alert system was tried and tested at the University of Swaziland with the help of Emerald Publishers. On successful completion of the project a prototype was developed. Using the prototype the second phase of the project was designed. In the second phase a similar content alert service was established with a larger user group and the alerts were generated from a number of publishers and SMSs were sent to the patrons. This paper describes in detail the background, the rationale, details of the project, the methods used and the findings of the projects.Item Distributed Computing Services on top of a Research and Education Network: GARR(2013-11-30) Mantovani, Maria Laura; Ruggieri, FedericoSince the beginning of 2013 the Italian National Research and Education Network GARR has started a new Distributed Computing and Storage Department (DCSD). The new DCSD in the Italian NREN, follows the new mission of GARR that will not only provide very advanced Network services to the Research community, but also manage, consolidate and expand an Italian Distributed Computing and Storage Infrastructure based on Grid and Cloud. This paper provides state of the art information on the planning and deployment of such infrastructure presenting the motivations, the objectives and the vision that will bring this infrastructure into the next Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission. The first pillar of this strategic evolution of GARR is the new project "GARR-X Progress" which has been recently approved by the Italian Ministry of Research and Education and that aims to deploy an advanced e-Infrastructure in the south of Italy (Regions of Convergence). GARR-X Progress will use a new fibre optics backbone and deploy a new distributed system of 6.000 Virtual CPUs and more than 6 PB of storage.Item e-Infrastructure Acceptance in e-Health, eLearning and e-Agriculture in Zimbabwe: The Quest for the User Acceptance Variable(2013-11-30) Chiome, ChrispenOne of the best ways to achieve global literacy is through communication, collaborative learning, research, and problem solving. Technology helps tremendously in these areas, so it is a great tool to use in this process. As e-infrastructures gain ground in many African countries and at the same time promises a new way of delivering health, education and agriculture. New technologies should be readily acceptable in order to deliver these essential services to the populace. However, against a background of previous studies pointing to e-learning as a monster under the bed (Chiome, Kurasha and Mupa, 2011) and after 98% of the students failed to voluntarily register for an e-learning blended programme, this research set out to find the factors affecting user acceptance of e- infrastructures in health, agriculture and education. This was a survey of institutions engaged in e-agriculture, e-health and e-learning in Zimbabwe. A purposive sample of 65students who were exposed to e-infrastructures was interviewed in order to determine the user acceptance variable applicable in Zimbabwe. The study found out that e-infrastructure users made rational choices faced with alternatives, belief in the usefulness or lack of it of the system, too much effort put into using technology, content richness, e-infrastructure usefulness and update regularity of the e-infrastructure are some of the absolutely vital technology acceptance variables. The research argues that the ability to navigate the complex life and work environments in the globally competitive information age requires e-infrastructure developers to pay rigorous attention to technology acceptance to engage e-infrastructure users other than the “early adopters” with the opportunities in e-infrastructures.Item Gleaning from Pro-Poor ICT Experiences to Address Challenges Faced by Uganda’s Nascent Research and Education Network(2013-11-30) Kasana, IsaacResearch and Education Network for Uganda (RENU), was started by the forum for Vice Chancellors of Universities and heads of Research organisations, in January 2006. In its first seven years it laid an operational foundation covering institutional identity, legal framework, awareness creation, articulating the rationale for national research and education networking (NREN), initial membership development and experimenting with collaboration through formation of the bandwidth consortium, supporting access to library e-resources and related technical skills development for member institutions. However, RENU still faces many challenges to its goal of supporting ICT-enabled research collaboration and higher education transformation to attain WSIS goal No. 3 by 2015 (ITU, 2011). NRENs, like Pro-Poor ICT projects, are mechanisms for addressing a type of ICT access-gap to reduce development lag, so parallels can be drawn between the two mechanisms such as: i. Similar purpose to address development needs through innovative use of ICT. ii. Similar aim to bridge an aspect of ICT access and utilisation gap. iii. Common strategic challenges such as policy environments not conducive to needed interventions and infrastructure costs that are too high for target communities. iv. The need for suitable operational models that enable success and sustainability. In a resource-constrained environment, pro-poor ICT is a rich source of principles, lessons, experiences and best practice that can shape the strategy to move RENU to sustainable operation. Through a desk review of literature, including a study done in 2005(WOUGNET, 2007) on propoor ICT initiatives in Uganda, this paper identifies experiences and lessons that can shape RENU’s plan for addressing its strategic challenges and specify an action framework for becoming fully operational.Item Health sciences faculty perception and practices on OA scholarly communication(2013-11-30) Lwoga, Edda TandiThis study sought to investigate the faculty’s awareness, attitudes and use of open scholarly communication in Tanzanian health sciences universities. Based on a questionnaire survey, 415 faculty members were selected through a stratified random sampling from a population of 679 in all eight health sciences universities in Tanzania. The response rate was 71.1%. The study found a high level of engagement with scholarly publishing, where senior members were more likely to participate in scholarly communication as journal authors, referee and editors. The majority of respondents were aware about open access (OA) issues; however, a small proportion of faculty’s research materials was made available in OA. Senior faculty with more proficient technical skills are more likely to use OA than junior faculty. Major barriers to OA usage were related to ICT infrastructure, awareness, skills, journal author pay model, and copyright and plagiarism concerns. This study recommends the following: universities to improve information and communication technology infrastructure, and develop institutional repositories and policies, and librarians to create awareness about OA, conduct information literacy programmes, and provide information services on copyright management issues and other related OA aspects. This is first comprehensive and detailed study focusing on the health sciences faculty use behaviour of OA initiatives in Tanzania, and reveals findings that are useful for planning and implementing OA initiatives in other institutions with similar conditions.Item Hydroclimate Project for Lake Victoria Basin (HYVIC)(2013-11-30) Semazzi, FredrickItem Interoperable Multi Conferencing Technology as a Basis for an Open, Global Web Conferencing Network(2013-11-30) Roesler, Valter; Cecagno, Felipe; Marins, André; Stanton, MichaelMconf is an open source, distributed, scalable and federated global web conferencing system, interoperable with SIP and mobile devices. The base for the system is an open source application called “Mconf: Multi conferencing with interoperable access for web and mobile devices”. This open source application explores a global approach to service provision. In June 2012 the Mconf Global Network [Roesler, 2012a] was launched, and by September 2013 had attained a global geographic distribution, with 23 servers distributed among three continents and about 1,500 communities and 5,500 users served worldwide through 10 web portals. This cooperating global network forms an open global web conferencing network that can support thousands of users daily. The problem addressed in this paper is: how this open multi conferencing technology can enable an open global academic web conferencing network. The answer is given by examples of R&D results of the experimental phase, and by explanations of: 1. How to keep all the servers up-to date and with the same software version, yet at the same time with custom themes and institution-based configurations. 2. How to generate real-time and historical usage statistics of the entire network and also for individual institutions. 3. How to guarantee availability in case of a server crash. 4. How to cope with surges in web conferencing traffic. 5. How to manage web conferencing recordings of such a large number of users and institutions scattered around the world.Item Mobile Applications to Enhance Versatility of Mobile Learning in Higher Education(2013-11-30) Macharia, JimmyIn recent times, despite the fact that Mobile learning or m-learning is a relatively new concept, it has become a buzz word in academic, researchers and companies developing learning systems and instructional materials. Unfortunately, standards and platforms like those that exist in elearning are still evolving. One thorny issue is that of m-examinations. Although in e-learning setup supervised examination rooms/center, have worked well the ability to authenticate the candidate doing an examination in unsupervised environment on remote place is limited. Moreover, the requirement of internet access throughout the examination session and particularly for the student to be able to submit his answers is also a major limitation. This study was not only an effort to remove the two limitations, but also to do so on the mobile learning environment. The study investigated the concept of sending by email a locked examination as an android mobile application. The student would then download and install the App in their smart devices a few minutes, days or even weeks but will not be able to run the App until the instructor sends a key to the registered student’s mobile hone number in the device to unlock the examination App installed in their phones two or three minutes before the examination start time. The approach used in this study was mixed methods. The first method was experimental where a mobile examination application was developed in Android. Then the mobile examination application was send by email to the 60 students who participated so that they could download it in their smart devices. The second method was a questionnaire survey to capture the student’s perception. The findings of the study show that the effect of Organizational Support (OS), Availability of ICTs (ICT) and Effort Expectancy (EE) on Behavioral intention to use M-learning and particularly m-examination was significant. The findings of this research will not only help m-learning practitioners develop m-learning examinations and promote this new IT to potential users, but also provide insights into research on m-examination acceptance.Item NREN Network Security: A case study of Uganda Christian University ICT Infrastructure(2013-11-30) Matsiko, Perez; Kiden, SarahThe long wait for high-speed access to the Internet is finally coming to an end. National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) are being connected to the rest of the world through high-speed fiber optic cables. This paper focuses on NREN security with Uganda Christian University (UCU) as a case study. It discusses how regional and national reseach and education networks will signifiantly lower bandwidth costs for the member institutions. It goes ahead to discuss the initial UCU ICT infrastructure, security practices and implementation, and then suggest recommendations based on lessons learnt and experiences.Item On the Development of Climate Data Visualization tool for Interpretation of Empirical Results from Climate Model: Does it add Value to Different Stakeholders?(2013-11-30) Sanga, Camilius; Sumari, Neema; Tumbo, SizaIn time of climate change there is a lot of interest in communicating detailed information and knowledge pertaining to climate to different stakeholders. In order to aid informed decision making related to changing climate and weather variability there is need for data visualization tool. Data visualization tool plays a great role in interpreting bulk climate information produced or collected from different districts, regions and nations at large. In Tanzania, online real-time data visualization tool can help to bridge the gap in the current system whereby climate information is disseminated using television, radio as well as face-to face. These methods have many problems, one being difficulty for end user to aggregate the disseminated climate information over long period of time. This paper seeks to present a work toward developing of a tool for such purpose. The work was done by Database for Crop Models Simulation team from Tanzania with consultation of team members from Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. It is anticipated that the tool will enhance efficiency and effectiveness in dissemination and communication of climate information and knowledge to all actors who need it. Furthermore, the results from this study will simulate the debate about climate data visualization in this era where the climate change is a problem which needs to be mitigated using a state-of-art solution.Item Piloting White Spaces for DSpaces in Malawi(2013-11-30) Mikeka, ChomoraIn this paper, the author describes a potential application that exploits the White Spaces identified in the UHF television band in Malawi to be the channel to connect to University digital repositories based on the DSpace architecture. The Malawi TV White Spaces (TVWS) network was deployed from the 11th September, 2013 in Zomba district (University town), with three stations as pilot in key economic sectors namely; education, security and seismic monitoring and mitigation. St. Mary’s Girls Secondary School is one of the pilot stations in the education sector. The ICT-teacher at the school was trained and certified ready to support and sustain the TVWS deployment and the applications running on the TVWS infrastructure. This paper reports on the access that the TVWS network is providing to the senior level students (Form III and Form IV) from the School’s Computer Lab to the University of Malawi’s DSpace at Chancellor College Campus Library. A parametric study of the link performance between St. Mary’s and Chancellor College show data rates up to 700kbps in terms of downstream application data throughput and a per second packet rate of 60, provided that the TVWS base station (BS) is wireless backhauled to a dedicated 2Mbps internet bandwidth stream and that the TVWS link at UHF channel 31 (554 MHz) from the BS to St. Mary’s client premise equipment (CPE) measures a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of 25.98 dB.Item Promoting e-Infrastructures for VRCs in Africa: the eI4Africa Project(2013-11-30) La Rocca, GiuseppeItem SCIFI – A Software-Based Controller for Efficient Wireless Networks(2013-11-13) Magalhães, Luiz Claudio Schara; Balbi, Helga Dolorico; Corrêa, Cosme; Valle, Rafael De Tommaso do; Stanton, MichaelSCIFI is an open source software wireless controller. Large scale wireless networks that use low cost (SOHO) Access Points are hard to install and run due to the complexity of configuring and monitoring many APs with a distributed interface, coupled with the difficulty of creating a good network configuration with no help from the system. On the other hand, hardware controllers and their compatible APs are too expensive, proprietary and ultimately tie the buyer to a single vendor. SCIFI allows the use of inexpensive hardware to create large scale wireless installations. This paper describes the SCIFI algorithms, its interface, the current deployment at UFF and the future work planned for SCIFI.Item Security: A Necessary Piece of the Collaboration Puzzle(2013-11-30) Kisyake, AlexEducational Institutions have always been known to be the heart of complex computing systems in any region they exist especially in Africa. The existence of high end computing power often connected to the Internet and to research network grids make educational institutions soft targets for attackers. Attackers of such networks are normally either looking to exploit the large computing resources available for use in secondary attacks or to steal Intellectual Property (IP) from the research networks that institutions are normally part of. Educational Institutions also store a lot of information about their current students and staff population as well as alumni ranging from personal to financial information. Unauthorized access to such information violates statutory requirement of the law and could grossly tarnish the institutions reputation not to mention cost the institution a lot of money during post-incident activities. As collaborative research efforts start to take shape on the African continent, more and more institutions will start to put their information security guard down in order to allow seamless network access between collaborative research entities. In such environments is important for institutions to have good security practices as an attack on one institution could easily be propagated all over the research network by abusing the trust that exists between these computer networks. This paper presents findings of a three phase study that was carried out among institutions in the Research and Education Network of Uganda (RENU) in 2011 to investigate the information security practices that these institutions had in place to counter information security attacks. Phase One of the study involved the use of a customised quantitative questionnaire tool. The tool originally developed by information security Governance task-force of EDUCAUSE was customised for use in Uganda. Phase Two involved the use of a qualitative interview guide in sessions between the investigator and respondents and in phase three, the data obtained was taken through analysis. The study investigates the performance of these institutions against five core areas; Institution Profiling, Infrastructure, Policy, Human Resource and Awareness, Policy and Self Assessment.