136 Institutes Linked on Hi-speed Network

BENGALURU:A total of 136 institutions in the state, including major universities and research institutes, have been connected under the Centre’s National Knowledge Network (NKN), envisaged under the National Knowledge Commission.

The extensive Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) network of RailTel Corporation of India (a mini-ratna enterprise), BSNL and Power Grid Corporation of India have been harnessed to put in place this network, which ensures speedier sharing of knowledge.

“RailTel of Karnataka alone has been instrumental in benefiting 53 institutions across the state through its OFCs that has ensured speedier dissemination of knowledge and data,” said G Shantiram, General Manager of RailTel, Karnataka territory.

Institutions in Bengaluru, Hubbali-Dharwad, Belagavi, Chitradurga, Ballari, Haveri and Mysuru have benefited enormously from this hi-speed connectivity, he said.

This has been achieved over a period of five years through lease lines, the GM said. 

ISRO headquarters, IISc, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Government Unani Medical College, IIM (all in Bengaluru), Taranath Medical College (Ballari), Regional Medical Research Centre (Belagavi) and BEML (R&D, Bangarpet) figure among the 53 institutes which have been provided hi-speed bandwidth.

The National Informatics Centre based in Koramangala plays the key facilitator by providing secure data-centric services, Shantiram said.  P Mohan, coordinator of NKN in Karnataka, said besides 136 institutions, 10 more would soon get the connectivity. Among the prominent beneficiaries are ISRO.

“In Bengaluru alone, we have connected five of the institutions belonging to the organisation by setting up a hi-speed virtual LAN for them,” he said.

Background

The move to create the NKN was initiated by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, and the National Knowledge Commission. The first high-level committee meeting for establishing the network was held on May 16, 2008.

The goal behind it is to create quality institutions with a pool of highly trained personnel with the objective of helping R&D in the country in a big way in the future.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com