Press Release No. 29

30 July 2009

On the occasion of commissioning of the Learning Centre at Alexandria University as part of the Pan African E-Network Project launched by Government of India

An E-learning Centre at Alexandria University was commissioned on 30^th July, 2009, as part of the Pan African E-Network Project, an ambitious initiative by the Government of India that seeks to provide electronic and knowledge connectivity to all countries of the African continent through satellite, wireless and fibre-optic networking.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of India, Mr. R. Swaminathan described it yet another significant and shining chapter in the history of India-Egypt relationship.

The Pan-African e-Network Project was formally launched by the Government of India on 5th July 2007 at a budgeted cost of around US$ 120 million, which covers the cost of supply, installation, testing and commissioning of hardware and software, end-to-end connectivity, satellite bandwidth, O&M support, and providing the tele-education and tele-medicine services to 53 African countries for 5 years. The Ministry of External Affairs of India is the nodal ministry for the project while Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) is implementing the project on a turnkey basis.

Under this project, which is a shining example of South-South Cooperation, India has gifted a dedicated satellite for e-connectivity in Africa to help bridge the digital divide. The Project aims to create significant linkages for tele-education, making available the facilities and expertise of some of the best universities in India to the people of Africa. TCIL has established the network with a data centre in TCIL headquarters in New Delhi, which acts as a gateway to the hub station in Dakar for connectivity of Indian institutions to the African sites.

The Project aims at providing tele-education services to 10,000 African students to undertake Post-Graduate, Under-Graduate, PG Diploma and Diploma and skill enabling certification courses in subjects such as Business Administration, IT, International Business, Tourism and Finance. The following seven leading universities and educational institutions of India have been associated with the Project: Amity University, University of Madras, Chennai; Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi; Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani; University of Delhi; IIT Kanpur and Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) Benguluru.

Ambassador Swaminathan also informed that apart from commissioning the tele-education centre at this University, the project also envisages setting up of a Patient-end Terminal at the prestigious Suzanne Mubarak Regional Centre in Alexandria, which is in the final stage of installation and will be commissioned soon. The project offers online medical consultation in various medical disciplines such as cardiology, neurology, urology, pathology, oncology, gynecology, infectious diseases/HIV-AIDS, ophthalmology, pediatrics etc. Twelve leading Indian Super Specialty Hospitals have been associated with the Project. With the commencement of the tele-medicine services, some of the best medical specialists of India would be available for consultations online for the Egyptian patients. Another important element of tele-medicine services is the Continuing Medical Education (CME) in various specialties which is intended to update the knowledge and upgrade the clinical skills of the practicing physicians and paramedical staff in the African countries.

In brief, the project aims to create significant linkages for tele-education and tele-medicine, making available the facilities and expertise of some of the best universities and super specialty hospitals in India to the people of Africa. The project is also equipped to support e-governance, e-commerce, infotainment, resource mapping and meteorological and other services.

Ambassador Swaminathan expressed his firm belief that Alexandria University will take advantage of the full range of services offered by India.

Ambassador Swaminathan also informed that two experts from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt will be participating in a 2-day workshop, which is being organized in New Delhi on 12^th –13^th August 2009, by TCIL as the implementing agency for the Pan-African e-Network project, on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs of India. The main objectives of the workshop are: to familiarize the participants with the salient aspects of Pan-African e-Network Project, e.g. network architecture, functions, features and facilities, provisions made in the project, role and responsibilities, training of manpower, and the intended benefits to the participating Member countries of African Union; to discuss about the operational issues with emphasis on action required by all concerned for making the best use of the tele-education and tele-medicine facilities available from the network; and to share the experiences of experts from the Indian Universities and Super Specialty Hospitals associated with the project.

*****