International Workshop on
African Research & Education Networking
September 25-27 2005 CERN - Geneva, Switzerland

The workshop is jointly organized by CERN, ITU and the United Nations University (UNU) in close cooperation with AUF, AIG/INTIF, DANTE, IDRC, IEEAF, Internet2, ISOC, RENATER, TERENA and UNESCO. The Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) is funding a feasibility study for the African University Network (AFUNET) as a practical response to the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Plan of Action. AFUNET's main objective is to enhance the capabilities of African academic and scientific institutions to take advantage of the opportunities associated with the emergence of the global information society.

The purpose of the Geneva workshop is to facilitate scientific and medical collaborations with Africa by building on the momentum created by the Internet2, IEEAF and IDRC workshops in co-organizing this event with them, but also bringing in additional European and International actors, namely: European governments and European Union representatives, and International organizations such as  ITU, UN University, ISOC & WHO. We will also involve other international organizations such as AUF, AIG/INTIF, ICTP, TWAS & UNESCO, Telecom Operators with local or global African's presence, as well as the TERENA association and European National Research networks such as RENATER that are already active in Africa, DANTE through the EUMED-CONNECT project, and, last but not least, scientists particularly from the countries concerned will of course be invited to participate and/or co-organize this workshop.