Ng ren consortium

ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT OF E-LIBRARY
FOR LIBRARIANS IN PUBLIC TERTIARY
INSTITUTIONS
LEVERAGING ON ASSOCIATION/CONSORTIUM: A
NEW CHALLENGE FOR DIGITAL LEARNING - THE
NUC-NgREN EXAMPLE
Dr. Joshua Atah
National Universities Commission,
26, Aguiyi Ironsi Street,
Maitama,
Abuja

INTRODUCTION
What is e-library?
 The e-Library (electronic Library) is also referred to as
Digital or Virtual Library
 A Library that gives Access to a wide range of information
resources through the computer and telecommunication
equipment.
 A Library without walls; users enjoys the euphoria of being
in distant libraries without being physically present.
1

INTRODUCTION
Benefits of e-library over traditional libraries
i. Access to a Wider range of resources;
ii. Ease of storage & manipulation of resources locally;
iii. Longer Preservation of Resources;
iv. Unlimited opening hours. The e-Library has no closing
hours;
v. Remote access to information. The users do not need to be
physically present in the location where the content is
hosted before they can access the content;
vi. Service to non-traditional Students;
vii. Ease in Searching;
2

INTRODUCTION
Benefits of e-library over traditional libraries (2)
vii. Significant Time Saving;
viii. No Physical building and seating Space required;
ix. Less Manpower Requirement;
x. Multiple Access. Millions of users can access the same content
at the same time;
xi. Resource Sharing. It is easier to share the electronic resources;
xii. Ease in migration; etc.
 e-library may not replace the traditional library completely
 there is no institution that is ‘worth its salt’ in the 21st century that
can do without the e-library
3

CONSORTIUM
Meaning of ‘Consortium’
• An association of two or more individuals,
companies, organizations or governments (or any
combination of these entities) with the objective of
participating in a common activity or pooling their
resources for achieving a common goal
• Library Consortium is an association of a group of
libraries to achieve mutually, the common
objective.
4

CONSORTIUM
Reasons for consortium in e-libraries
i. The explosion of information in recent years and
the limited number of libraries
ii. the high cost of electronic resources and the
limited funds available to the libraries
iii. To avoid duplication of expensive resources e.g.
almost all Nigerian Tertiary edu institutions will
buy the same text books/journals in the General
Studies disciplines or computer science
iv. Economies of scale
v. Diversity of users’ needs
vi. Impossibility of self-sufficiency.
5

CONSORTIUM
Advantages of consortium
i. Signification cost reduction through group
purchasing (economies of scale)
ii. Better bargaining power
iii. Creating opportunities for joint advocacy,
marketing, and fundraising for libraries
iv. Increase in the ability to advocate for the needs of
libraries through collaboration
6

CONSORTIUM
Advantages of consortium (2)
v. Improving the capacity and expertise of the
members by providing professional development
programs for library staff
vi. Sharing of resources like content, technology,
expertise, and funding among consortium
members
vii.Carrying out innovations of importance common to
all the members e.g. digitization, technology
implementation, information sharing, etc.
7

A CONSORTIUM EXAMPLE
8
THE NIGERIAN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
NETWORK (NgREN)

NIGERIAN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORK (NgREN)
A National Research and Education Network (NREN)
• is a specialised ISP dedicated to supporting the needs of the research
and education communities within a country;
• provides the basic nationwide connectivity platform, linking
participating institutions, on which a host of e-services are provided
and shared amongst participating institutions/members;
• employs ICT to drive inter-institutional communication, collaboration,
and shared access to knowledge across national and international
boundaries;
• is usually distinguished by support for a high-speed backbone network,
often offering dedicated channels for individual research projects;
9

• is a private network that connects education and research institutions
directly to:
i. each other,
ii. other RENs, and
iii. the “Commercial” or “Commodity” Internet.
10

University of
PH
University of
Abuja
Bayero
University,
Kano
University of
Lagos
Other
Nigerian
Universities
Chinese
REN
Kenyan
REN
American
REN
South African
REN
Commodity
internet
Nigerian
REN
Nigerian
Polytechnics
Nigerian
COEs
Research Institutes;
Teaching Hospitals; etc
11

RENs IN LEADING WORLD
ECONOMIES
 Today’s economies are increasingly driven by their knowledge capital and
what sets the Most Competitive Economies apart is their ownership of active
RENs.
 Examples:
SWITCH (Switzerland), 1989; SingAREN (Singapore), 1997; FUNET (Finland),
1983; DFN (Germany), 1984; Internet2 (USA), 1995; SUNET (Sweden), 1980;
HARNET (Hong Kong), 1985; SURFnet (Netherlands), 1986; SINET (Japan), 1987;
JANET (UK), 1983; UNINETT (Norway), 1987; TWAREN (Taiwan), 1998; QFREN
(Qatar), 1995; CANARIE (Canada), 1993; Forskningsnettet (Denmark), 1988;
ACOnet (Austria), 1980; Belnet (Belgium), 1993; REANNZ (New Zealand), 2005;
Ankabut (UAE), 2009; and SARInet (Saudi Arabia), 2011; AARNet (Australia) -
1989; CERNET (China) - November, 1994; KENET (Kenya) - 1999; TENET (South
Africa) - 2000; RNP (Brazil) - 1989; HEAnet (Ireland) - 1983
12

NUC’s DRIVE FOR A NIGERIAN REN
❖ The NUC is the Quality Assurance agency responsible for the development
of university education in Nigeria
❖ The NUC recognises the need to ensure that our educational institutions are
at par with standards worldwide, to ensure the production of graduates and
research outputs that will be globally competitive.
❖ The production of highly skilled graduates and high impact research outputs
in any nation is driven by its university system.
13

❖ We recognise the tremendous benefits of establishing a REN in a growing
economy like ours
❖ In line with these goals and the tremendous benefits of establishing a REN, the
Nigerian University System has decided to take the lead in the realisation of
this vision
❖ Thus, the NUC, in collaboration with the Universities and the CVC, decided to
establish NgREN.
NUC’s DRIVE FOR A NIGERIAN REN (2)
14

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NgREN
❖ Nigeria made history on Tuesday 08 July 2014 when the Nigerian Research
and Education Network (NgREN) was commissioned.
❖ Until 08 July 2014, Nigeria was the biggest country in the World that was yet
to formally commission a REN;
❖ NgREN is the first REN to commence operation in the whole of West and
Central Africa;
❖ With NgREN, Nigeria is on the verge of making a giant leap into 21st century
teaching and research.
15

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NgREN Cont’d
❖ This first phase has connected 27 universities, the NUC and the CVC
Secretariat (see appendix 1)
❖ These 27 older Federal Universities has over one million students and staff
❖ Capacity of the core transmission is 10gbps
❖ Capacity to each university is 155mbps dedicated link, a capacity nearly 20
times bigger than the average capacity amongst these institutions at the start
of the project.
16

IMMEDIATE STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF THE
NgREN
❖ EXPANSION OF ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION
● Over 1 million students & Staff connected in phase one.
● Over 3 million students can be targeted as we strive towards
connecting the remaining Universities, Polytechnics, CoEs,
and Research Institutes (RI);
● Nearly a million Academic and non-academic staff are also
immediate beneficiaries of the services of the NgREN;
● Total of about 4 million beneficiaries at completion
● NgREN can complement efforts in tackling poverty and youth
restiveness through access to education currently hampered
by carrying capacities of our institutions;
17

NgREN
❖ EXPANSION OF ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION Cont’d
• 1.6 million candidates sat for JAMB this year
• Whereas, total carrying capacities (no of applicants that can
be admitted per session) in all the Nigerian Universities at
present is only about 400,000.
• RENs have been used to bridge this gap elsewhere. For
example; ABU Zaria, University of Ibadan, and UNN have only
about 50,000, 35,000, and 25,000 student populations
respectively. In contrast, University of Buenos Aires
(Argentina), NA University (Mexico), UNISA (South Africa)
and Cairo University (Egypt) have 316,050; 314,557; 250,000;
and 200,000 total student populations respectively.
18

NgREN
❖IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY
• Improvement in quality and consequently reduced failure
rate (eg WAEC, NECO, JAMB, etc) are possible through access
to teaching and learning resources.
• The Video Conferencing facilities can be used to engage
experts locally and internationally to improve the currently
poor Staff to Student ratios in the country. For example,
NOUN has a ratio of 1:363 while University of Abuja and
Lagos State University have ratios 1:122 and 1:114
respectively. In contrast, Harvard University has a ratio of 1:4
while MIT, Yale and Cambridge have ratios 1:9, 1:4 and 1:3
respectively;
19

NgREN
❖ IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY Cont’d
• Improvement in quality of research.
Consolidate on the achievements of the STEP-B Centers of
Excellence and the 10 approved African Centers of Excellence
by providing them a platform to collaborate and link with
industry, thereby refocusing research to national needs which
will translate to economic growth;
• Monitoring and inspection.
Can provide visual data to monitor and ensure quality of
educational delivery of connected institutions;
20

NgREN
❖ IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY Cont’d
• Quality assurance of education can also be achieved through
centralised database of education sector that will allow
monitoring of academic performance of students over a
given period.
• The database can also be used to do comparative analysis of
quality of graduates from different universities, thereby
instigating healthy competition amongst the universities.
21

IMMEDIATE STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF THE NgREN
❖ INTERNATIONALISATION OF EDUCATION AND RESOURCE
SHARING
i. With the Video Conferencing facilities deployed and the
possibilities for the integration of mobile devices and
applications, remote teaching, collaboration, meetings, etc
have been ongoing. When other universities are connected,
the scope of these activities will simply multiply;
ii. Remote PhD supervision/ Joint supervision is now possible to
boost advanced capacity development at reduced costs;
iii. Research collaboration for shared access to data, analytical
tools and impacts metrics;
22

❖ INTERNATIONALISATION OF EDUCATION AND RESOURCE
SHARING Cont’d
iv. Engagement with Nigerians in the Diaspora to reverse brain
drain losses into cumulative gains for the economy. e.g the
Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas have
recently indicated interest to use the NgREN platform to
build capacity in Telemedicine in Nigerian Universities.
v. The REN can be an interim solution to dearth in quality
teachers in remote locations (especially in primary and
secondary schools) as a teacher can teach millions of people
at the same time in diverse geographical locations
vi. Telemedicine, remote consultation and post surgery follow
up (Between tertiary hospitals and primary health care
centres)
23

❖ IMPROVEMENT IN RANKING AND VISIBILITY
i. Webometric rankings will improve through more and better
local content made available to the international community;
ii. Digitisation of resources for anytime, anywhere access by
learners in and out of school.
24

❖ COST SAVINGS
i) Bandwidth cost savings through economies of scale. At the
moment, NgREN has made it possible for a cost reduction of
bandwidth from about $1,260/mbps/month to
$129/mbps/month. When the NgREN is fully completed, this
cost will further go down to below $30/mbps/month;
ii) Localisation of national traffic. All the institutions on the
network will keep their communication within the network,
except for data that needs to go outside the network
25

❖ COST SAVINGS Cont’d
iii) Capacity building cost savings through online and remote
training modules;
iv) Availability of shared resources thereby reducing total cost of
teaching and research;
v) Overhead cost savings enabling optimal use of available
finances;
vi) Logistics cost savings e.g. meetings, reduction in the need for
travels, etc.
26

OPPORTUNITY TO REACH THE YOUTHS (STUDENTS) AND STAFF OF
TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS
i. Video conferencing to directly interact with the academic
community whenever necessary;
ii. Opportunity to communicate Government’s efforts and vision
for a virile and progressive nation to members of the academic
community.
27

LIST OF UNIVERSITIES ALREADY CONNECTED
Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto University of Abuja
University of Maiduguri Federal University of Technology, Owerri
Bayero University, Kano University of Calabar
Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna University of Benin
Federal University of Technology, Minna University of Port Harcourt
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria University of Uyo
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka
National Universities Commission, Abuja Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun
National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike
CVC Secretariat, Abuja University of Lagos
University of Agriculture, Makurdi Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
University of Jos University of Ilorin
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife University of Ibadan
Federal University of Technology, Akure
28

THE CONSORTIUM APPROACH TO NgREN
• RENs worldwide exist as consortiums fully owned and
managed by education and research institutions for the
promotion of their interests
• NgREN is a project that is cross cutting in nature.
• No single institution can connect itself to another on a
broadband network.
• The institutions that are currently connected on the NgREN
network came together to form a consortium that led to the
establishment of the NgREN.
29

THE CONSORTIUM APPROACH TO NgREN (2)
• Established as a Private entity Limited by Guarantee on the
21st of February 2012, NgREN is owned by fee-paying
members and all proceeds are for reinvestment to sustain
services.
• It has its own Governing Board comprising representatives
of Stakeholder organisations.
• There are six Vice Chancellors on the founding Board and
provision does exist for expanding its membership
30

THE CONSORTIUM APPROACH TO NgREN (2)
• It currently has the following services categories:
1. Available Services: Up to 155 mbps of Internet bandwidth to each
member, IP telephony platform, video conferencing services.
2. Planned Services: hosting of web sites, DNS, IPLC to London,
repositories setup, access to resources from other NRENs, storage
services, high performance computing, Identity Federation
(authentication, authorization, access control), Managed services,
Level 2 and Level 3 Network support, Internet Exchange, IPv4 & IPv6
infrastructure, BGP peering. subscription to Ebsco host e-journals and
eBooks, subscription to Science Direct e-journals
3. Security services: (antivirus, anti-spam, Intrusion Prevention, Denial of
service protection, web filtering, etc.)
31

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
www.ngren.edu.ng
32

Ng ren consortium

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