Network Startup Resource Center

In 1988, Randy Bush and John Klensin began providing pro bono technical support to network engineers in southern Africa. The program was formalized in 1992 with a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation,{{cite web |publisher=National Science Foundation |title=Award Abstract #9216064 Network Start-up Resource Center |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9216064 |date=August 1, 2000 |accessdate=2016-08-17}} and activities expanded to countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. NSRC officially moved to the University of Oregon in 1996 and operated as a service of the Computing Center until 2011. The Center is currently administered as a collaboration of the University Libraries and the Office of the Vice-President for Research and Innovation, under the leadership of Steven Huter.{{cite web |first=Ted |last=Sedmak |publisher=Internet2 |title=Internet2 President's Leadership Award Winners Support Research and Education at the Margins |url=https://www.internet2.edu/blogs/detail/4660/ |date=May 20, 2013 |accessdate=2016-08-17}}

NSRC provides funding for different Network Operator Groups throughout the world, as well as in-kind equipment, training, and publications necessary to establish Internet connections. As of 2011, in-kind support valued at over $40 million USD had been provided in more than 100 countries.{{cite web | last = Bonamici | first = Andrew |url=http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/CultivatingGlobalCyberinfrastr/202353 | title = Cultivating Global Cyberinfrastructure for Sharing Digital Resources (EDUCAUSE Review) | publisher = Educause.Edu |date=2010-04-15 | accessdate = 2016-08-31}} The NSRC's educational programs include workshops, seminars, hands-on technical training and short courses around the world.{{cite web | url = https://www.icann.org/news/blog/spreading-knowledge-in-2014-technical-training-with-nsrc | title=Spreading Knowledge in 2014 – Technical Training with NSRC | accessdate=2016-08-31}}{{cite web | url = https://esnetupdates.wordpress.com/2017/04/17/video-highlights-direct-effects-of-nsrcs-networking-partnerships-in-uganda/ | title=Video Highlights Direct Effects of NSRC's Networking Partnerships in Uganda | accessdate=2017-04-17| date=2017-04-17 }} The goal of these programs is to train local resources and establish an ongoing support system for networking within the region. Work may be done in partnership with other organizations interested in supporting research and education networks in developing regions.{{cite press release | title = Empowering network engineers around the world: GÉANT and NSRC renew partnership | publisher = GÉANT | date = October 14, 2016 | url = https://www.geant.org/News_and_Events/Pages/Empowering-network-engineers-around-the-world.aspx | access-date = 2016-11-29 }}

The NSRC has worked for several years with organizations throughout Africa to help expand and stabilize the growing networks on the continent.{{cite web | url = http://www.sdsc.edu/News%20Items/PR110205a.html | title = SDSC Networking Active Measurement Project Expands to Africa | publisher = San Diego Supercomputer Center | date = 2005-02-11 | accessdate = 2016-08-31}}{{cite conference | first = David | last = Hartnett | first2 = Fredrick | last2 = Semazzi | url = http://climlab02.meas.ncsu.edu/ssa/ssalongreportfinal.pdf | title = The Workshop for Enhancing Collaborative Research on the Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa | publisher = National Science Foundation | date = 2005-01-24 | location = Arlington, VA | accessdate = 2016-08-31}}{{cite web | title = AFNOG Training Programs Help Develop Africa's Internet Infrastructure | date = 2002-05-20 }} Initially, the focus has been on teaching best practice around network and systems administration, plus the establishment of solid network monitoring systems in the region. There is a strong focus on enabling scientific research across the continent.{{cite web | url = http://www.inasp.info/uploads/filer_public/cd/38/cd38c104-97fc-46fa-bb58-d8455af9a960/nren_lri_article.pdf | title = Access and contributing to global research: the problem of the last kilometre | date = 2017-03-01 | accessdate = 2017-04-18}} While the drive to develop the networks continues, additional support is being offered around identity and access management through workshops as requested.{{cite web | url = https://indico.wacren.net/event/20/ | title = WACREN Conference 2016 | date = 2016-03-14 | location = Dakar Senegal | accessdate = 2016-08-31}}

Similar work to the efforts in Africa, the NSRC has coordinated various hardware donations from large vendors to help build national research and education networks in countries across Asia, including Indonesia,{{cite web| url=http://old.ui.ac.id/en/news/archive/2050 | title = 2008 APRU CIO CONFERENCE INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR | publisher=Universitas Indonesia |accessdate=2016-08-31}} Myanmar,{{cite journal | last = Stone | first = Richard | title = Raising Up a Fallen Ivory Tower | journal = Science | volume = 338 | issue = 6111 | pages = 1140–1142 | date = 2012-11-30 | doi = 10.1126/science.338.6111.1140 | pmid = 23197509 | bibcode = 2012Sci...338.1140S }} Bhutan,{{cite press release | title = International Partnerships and Knowledge Sharing Help Bhutan Continue on the Path to Advanced Internet Capabilities | publisher = PR Newswire | date = April 2015 | url = http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/international-partnerships-and-knowledge-sharing-help-bhutan-continue-on-the-path-to-advanced-internet-capabilities-300070226.html | access-date = 2016-08-31 }} Guam,{{cite web | title = UOG Hosts Regional Campus Network Design Workshop | date = July 16, 2016 | url = http://www.uog.edu/news-announcements/uog-hosts-regional-campus-network-design-workshop |

access-date = 2016-08-31 }} and Vanuatu.{{cite web | first = Jethro | last = Webston | date = 2016-01-23 | title = Vanuatu Internet Exchange (VIX): a success story | publisher = APNIC }}

In Latin America, the NSRC has assisted and trained local support to build national research and education networks in Panama{{cite journal | last = Hahn | first = Saul | title = Case Studies on Developments of the Internet in Latin America: Unexpected Results | journal = Bulletin of the Association for Information Science and Technology | volume = 25 | issue = 5 | pages = 15–17 | date = June 1999 | doi = 10.1002/bult.126 | doi-access = free }} and Guatemala.{{cite journal | last = Kinzer | first = Stephen | title = Glimmers of Hope in Guatemala| journal = The New York Review of Books | issue = December 5, 2013 | url = http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2013/12/05/glimmers-hope-guatemala/| access-date = 2016-08-31 | date = 2013-12-05 }}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/4970/aprmay97cn.pdf?sequence=1 Innovative NSRC Team Helps Make Global Networks a Reality. Computing Center News, Computing News; vol. 12, no. 05 (April/May 1997)]
• [http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/cultivating-global-cyberinfrastructure-sharing-digital-resources Cultivating Global Cyberinfrastructure for Sharing Digital Resources. EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 45, no. 2 (March/April 2010): 10-11 Andrew Bonamici, Steven G. Huter, and Dale Smith]

Category:History of the Internet

Category:Internet Society