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At the ALICE2-RedCLARA meeting held in November 2011 in Montevideo, the Directors and Engineers from the Latin American National Research and Education Networks (NREN) met the new President of the Paraguayan NREN, Red Arandu. In this interview we found out about the next steps for the network of Guaraní wisdom, its desires and the state it is in today.

 

In Guaraní Arandu means ‘wisdom’. The road Arandu has gone through since its creation has been long and winding. How much of that wisdom contained in your name have you required in Paraguay in order to attain the signature of Red Arandu’s Foundational Act in 2011?

In order to explain how we achieved the signature of the Foundational Act, it is necessary to make a little history:

In 2002, put forward by the National Computing Centre (CNC in Spanish) of the National University of Asuncion (UNA), the Red Arandu Project was initiated.

From this moment onwards, local and international universities and institutions became key actors in order to achieve the availability of infrastructure and the implementation of the Paraguayan Academic Network.

In 2009, RedCLARA’s biannual meeting was held at the UNA Campus. The event enabled RedCLARA’s Executive Director, Florencio Utreras, the Director of RNP, Nelson Simoes, representatives from local universities and representatives from the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT) to get together and agree to constitute CONACyT as the coordinating entity for Red Arandu’s implementation.

Thanks to this coordination we obtained the support from the Mercosur Digital Project through the following actions:

• Network infrastructure design
• Provision of computing, networking and communication equipment
• Writing down Security Policies and Contingency Plan

For the infrastructure design we had the valuable collaboration of engineers Gustavo García and Alex Moura from the RedCLARA staff.

What are the next steps for Red Arandu in 2012?

We decided to establish short-term goals without losing sight of long-term objectives.

The short-term challenges are: to consolidate the Statutes, the physical implementation of the Network’s NOC, the physical connection of member institutions, the creation of research communities and the beginning of the network’s operations through these communities, the exchange of information, as well as the socialization of the network’s services to other institutions.

We also wish to prepare, present and, if possible, start the construction of the Red Arandu’s offices in the Campus premises.

What are the main challenges faced today by Red Arandu?

One of the biggest challenges has to do with the Network’s sustainability.

At the moment we have the support of a consultancy facilitated by RedCLARA for the writing of Red Arandu’s Business Plan. This work will make it possible to identify sources of funding, as well as the strategies to attract more partners and provide better services.

What do the four member universities and the two strategic partners expect from Red Arandu in the short and mid term?

In the short term, the four universities expect the Network’s functioning; to go through the pilot stage in order to start using the new platform.

In the midterm, we expect to get connected to RedCLARA, so as to make use of this connection’s benefits.

Red Arandu’s backbone will have 10 Gbps and the institutional connections will have 1 Gbps. This is patently a modern network. When will this network be fully implemented and when will it start to provide connectivity services to universities?

It is very important to clarify some concepts.

Currently, Arandu has equipment with capacity for 10 Gbps links.

10 Gbps will feature the interconnection to be established with RedCLARA, by means of which we intend to implement, through the RedCLARA-RNP-COPACO agreement, a 10 Gbps transmission network, which would be split into 1 Gbps capacities to connect the nodes that will emerge in the Asuncion-Ciudad del Este segment.

To date, we are working on a new work timescale, restructuring the stages and redefining the objectives for each of them.

What do you think the main benefits of this network’s implementation will be?

We have a purpose: the integration of universities and research centres through the creation of scientific cooperation networks and the exchange of academic content.

The opportunity to consolidate the new technological infrastructures as tools for the development of research work and joint projects with local and international peers.

These technological resources constitute the support to give life to the actual network, the target network, constituted by academics, researchers, students and other actors who make up the national academic and scientific community.

In terms of connection, how does Red Arandu operate today?

Through VPN over COPACO S.A.’s IP/MPLS network.

Currently, Arandu has border equipment which will be used to connect RedCLARA.

The idea is to logically and physically join Arandu’s border equipment to COPACO’s network. This way, we will have our Red Arandu by means of which all member institutions will be connected.

After the RedCLARA and ALICE2 meeting held in November 2011 in Montevideo, what is your view regarding the work of national networks and RedCLARA?

I think initiatives like RedCLARA constitute a vital complement to strengthen the work of National Networks. Its integrating mission puts into perspective the current reality of an interconnected world enriched by the exchange of knowledge and skills without limitations and frontiers.

At the same time, we envision great challenges for the future and we will have to find together intelligent and timely solutions which guarantee our organisation’s sustainability and strengthening.

What does Red Arandu expect from RedCLARA today?

Our interest in this first stage is focused mainly on the materialisation of the Arandu-RedCLARA-COPACO agreements in order to implement the transport network which connects COPACO directly to RedCLARA.

We wish to maintain and increase our participation in the work of RedCLARA in order to feed ourselves on the experiences and knowledge of our peers and thus consolidate Red Arandu’s development process. The support we receive from the RedCLARA community has been a highly important element for the birth of Arandu and we are certain that it will continue to be so in the future.