The University Grants Commission has signed an agreement with the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh for using two dark fibres to establish the Bangladesh Research and Education Network.
BdREN will enable high performance connectivity among academics, scientists and researchers in higher education to communicate with their peers within the country and eventually with the global academic and research community, said a World Bank press release on Monday.
The first phase of BdREN implementation has already begun with the Network Operation Centre set up at the UGC and points of presence have been created in six universities in Dhaka.
Three of these universities are already enjoying interconnectivity and all universities and research institutions of the country will gradually be covered by BdREN.
BdREN is being implemented under the $81-million-WB-financed Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project which aims to bring forth both innovation and accountability within universities and enhance the technical and institutional capacity of the higher education sector.
The project seeks to establish conditions that will stimulate teaching, improve learning and boost research in universities, and introduce an efficient instrument for the allocation of public funds to universities, the WB press release said.
The UGC on June 27 called for second round of proposals for grant awards from public universities, eligible private universities and departments of these universities to enhance innovation in teaching, learning and research.
In the first phase, the project awarded grants to 91 winning proposals from 25 public universities and two private universities.
Source : New Age
