First International TelePresence Session over Research and Education Networks
National LambdaRail (USA) and ANKABUT (UAE) Demonstrate New Collaboration Opportunities for Global Research and Innovation
Cypress, California, USA and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 14, 2009 -- National LambdaRail (NLR), the U.S. network for advanced research and innovation, and ANKABUT, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) advanced network for research and education, announced they have completed the world's first TelePresence session over networks owned and managed by national research and education communities. The highest-quality video experience, using technologies from Cisco Systems, demonstrated how researchers and scientists on other sides of the globe can now collaborate much more directly and effectively.
On April 5, a TelePresence connection between ANKABUT, a Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) initiative, and NLR member Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) 
enabled network engineers from PSC, based in Pittsburgh, to literally "be in the room" and join His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, UAE, and Dr. Arif Sultan Al-Hammadi, Interim President of KUSTAR, in a joint session at the UAE Forum on Information and Communication Technology Research 2009 held on KUSTAR's campus in Abu Dhabi.
The TelePresence session demonstrated to conference participants a technology that will enable academic collaboration and distance learning between research and education institutions worldwide.
"With TelePresence, researchers and scientists can overcome the barrier of physical distance without sacrificing quality of interaction," said Tom West, CEO, NLR.
"TelePresence represents one of many rich applications that enable cooperation and collaboration for researchers and institutions. ANKABUT will encourage and support such technologies and applications among connected universities and institutes," according to Dr. Arif Al-Hammadi.
NLR is the first U.S. research and education network to become Cisco TelePresence certified. NLR has established and is running its own exchange (a Session Border Controller and multi-point switch) with which it is providing TelePresence connectivity services to its university members and other national research and education networks such as ANKABUT.
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National LambdaRail (NLR) is the most technically advanced, flexible and cost-effective network dedicated to the needs of the U.S. research community. For more information, please visit http://www.nlr.net.
For more information on ANKABUT, please visit www.kustar.ac.ae/ankabut