IP: Singapore link

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> From The Straits Times Interactive (Singapore), November 9


<http://straitstimes.asia1.com/pages/stcyb1.html>


S'pore, US launch high-speed Net link for researchers 


By Lee Siew Hua
US Correspondent 




WASHINGTON -- Singapore and the United States launched an advanced Internet
link on Friday to let their researchers collaborate at radical speeds, and
this move is a harbinger of the future of networking around the world. 


The partnership also widens and deepens the overall relationship between
the two countries. 


The link-up, a Singapore initiative, allows research circles in the
Republic to avoid Internet congestion as they work with a research network
of 100 premier US institutions. The new move will boost research in
Singapore and is a test-bed of technology for Singapore ONE, the national
plan to link the whole island electronically. 


These scenarios were highlighted by Education Minister and Second Minister
for Defence Teo Chee Hean, who was in Washington for the launch. Indeed, in
a triple-first situation, Singapore is the first trans-oceanic partner to
sign up with the US. It is also the first outside North America and the
first in Asia. 


The powerful link involves Singaren, the Singapore Internet Next Generation
Advanced Research and Education Network. Its high-tech tie-up is with the
exclusive vBNS, the very high performance Backbone Network Service, which
groups 100 top-notch institutions in the US. They include the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and Stanford. 


The special linkage lets high-end researchers tap mega-databases,
multimedia clips and other heavyweight material at 14 megabits per second.
This is 380 times faster than the Internet connection of 28.8 kilobits per
second found in most Singapore homes. Rear-Admiral (NS) Teo, also chairman
of the National IT Committee, noted that an Internet II is evolving as
networking technology develops. "So really the research network in the US
and its smaller counterpart in Singapore are the harbingers of things to
come in Internet or networking," he told The Sunday Times. 


Singapore's connection with the US, the heart of research networking, will
position the island to exploit new waves of technology and any commercial
spin-offs later. 


"We want to get onto the ground-floor of this development so that we can
understand the issues involved in broadband technology. 


"So, we will have the technological base to exploit the technology as it
moves from R & D into commercially viable areas. We will have a core of
people who will understand, for example, how to manage high-speed networks." 


A similar deal will be signed with Canada later this month, and more
partnerships are anticipated with European nations and Japan. 


Members of the US scientific community at the launch said the linkage lets
the US tap Singaporean minds, and that the Republic can become a regional
research hub. 


Dr Henry Kelly, acting associate director of technology at the White House,
said the US hopes to take the fullest possible advantage of the talent in
Singapore and worldwide. Professor Vincent Pisacane of Johns Hopkins
University said Singapore can become a medical hub for the region,
including remote Indonesian islands. Just as Singapore doctors can connect
with US specialists using real-time video, a surgeon in the region can
operate on his patient with mentoring from Singapore. Singapore can also
become a digital library hub, said Professor Saifur Rahman of the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University. 


Eight joint projects between Singapore and the US are online, including
tele-medicine, the sharing of protein structural data and a design studio.
The Singapore National Science and Technology Board and Telecommunication
Authority of Singapore will fund the connection at a cost of S$30 million
over three years. 












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"Photons have neither morals nor visas"  --  Dave Farber 1994
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