UbuntuNet Alliance has been established to capitalise on the emergence of optical fibre and other terrestrial infrastructure opportunities and thus become the Research and Education Network (REN) backbone of Africa!   Tertiary education and research institutions throughout the rest of the world are connected to the Internet using  fast low-cost fibre.  This gives them a huge  research and learning bonus.  Until now, most of Africa has been missing from this connected world.  However, this is changing with  the emergence of UbuntuNet Alliance which  enjoys  close linkages with  the Association of African  Universities and the regional  higher education bodies.

UbuntuNet Alliance plans to link NRENs in Africa through Géant, the EU academic and research fibre network, to other academic and research fibre networks around the globe.

Established and emerging NRENs (National Research and Education Networks) in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa have come together as the Founders of a new grouping: the UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education Networking. The vision of delivering very high speed - gigabits (Gb/s) connectivity instead of the current kilobits (kb/s) between African Universities and Research Institutions is driving the Alliance forward at a rapid pace.  The UbuntuNet Alliance is registered as a non-profit association of NRENs in the Trade Register of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Amsterdam.

Founding members of UbuntuNet Alliance and Partners at a Planning Retreat in Zomba, Malawi, October 2006
 

Upcoming Events
	2nd Council of Members Meeting, Lusaka, Zambia, 17-18 April 2008
What's New
	NREN Project Teams, download and complete UbuntuNet Alliance Membership Application Form
	What is UbuntuNet? Version 7.2, released on 18 Feb 2008