Keio University 150th Anniversary Project
Keio University co-hosted “Light Path to India”, an international workshop to discuss the roles of ultra high-speed network in R&D and satellite Internet based Distance Education, as part of its 150th anniversary project. The workshop, hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of India, took place on Friday, 25 May from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Conference Facilities, National Agriculture Science Centre Complex e in New Delhi, India.
1. Brief Overview of the Workshop
Development of information technologies has played a vital role in international collaborative researches which require large scale data transmission capacity. Today, in the fields such as space science, astronomy, medical studies, nuclear energy, high energy physics and new digital media, an ultra high-speed network facility which connects the world has become increasingly important. This workshop will focus on developing a leading-edge information network to connect Asian countries including Japan and India to enable the countries in Asia to participate in advanced research activities using ultra high-speed Internet network.
The workshop also focused on the SOI (School on the Internet) Asia project hosted by Keio University in association with the WIDE (Widely Integrated Distributed Environment) Project *, a network of distance education of higher education institutions based on satellite Internet technology. The project, hosted by Keio University with co-operation of 26 partner universities in 13 countries, achieved significant success in connecting universities with satellite Internet network to share lectures, to improve the level of higher education in Asia, and to train and develop human resources specializing in the information technology field.
At the workshop, a session on distance education was held, and the possibility of forming a partnership with educational institutions in India was discussed. This project attracted attention after the Indian Ocean Earthquake for providing distance lectures to Universitas Syiah Kuala in Indonesia which was seriously damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.
The main lectures in the workshop were from:
• Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology of India
• Representative of the Japanese Embassy
• Jun Murai, Vice President of Keio University, Professor of the Faculty of Environmental Information, Director of WIDE Project
• Subodh Bhargava, Chairman of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (a global Indian-telecommunications company)
• Kees Neggers, Managing Director of SURFnet (national research and educational network of the Netherlands)
• Representative of Indian Institutes of Technology(IIT), University of Delhi, and Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOUU)
The following is brief description of the sessions
Session 1:Opening
Welcome speech by Hon. Minister of Science and Technology
Greetings by Representative of Japanese Embassy
The present state of Japan India cooperation by Prof. Aftab Seth
Keynote speech by Prof. Jun Murai, Vice President, Keio University, and Director, WIDE Project
Keynote speech by Mr. Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, VSNL
School of the Internet Project by Prof. Keiko Okawa, Keio University
Session 2: R&D Network
Light Path to India by Prof. Jun Murai
R&D Network in Europe & towards Light Path to India by Mr. Kees Neggers, Managing Director, SURFnet
VSNL and R&D Network to India by Mr. Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, VSNL
IIT and R&D Network to India by IIT
Session 3: Parallel Sessions
R&D Network Track
Technical discussion chair: Prof. Jun Murai
Distance Education Track
Distance Education in University of Delhi by Prof. Singh
Distance Education in IGNOU by Prof. Uma Kanjilal
Keio Global Campus and SOI Asia by Prof. Keiko Okawa
Session 4: Closing
Report from R&D Network track
Report from Distance Education track
A reception hosted by Hon. Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology was held in the evening after the workshop.
* About WIDE Project: Made up of more than 100 organizations including various corporations and universities, the project aims at a global connection between computers and all other equipment and construction of a highly public information infrastructure that will contribute to society in a variety of fields.
For more information, please contact :
Akiko Kurata (Ms), Hideyo Kawagoe (Ms.)
Office of Communications and Public Relations, Keio University, Japan
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +81-3-5427-1541
Fax: +81-3-5441-7640
