Central Asia and the Caucasus: SILK and OCCASION

   The Caucasus and Central Asia represent a significant gap in the worldwide networking picture. The Digital Divide is a reality in this region, where connectivity is extremely expensive. Furthermore, although fibre development in the region is accelerating, with connections via fibre potentially becoming a possibility in the next few years, in Central Asia in particular, satellite connectivity is the only option currently for high-speed communications. Even when fibre connectivity is feasible in the main towns, satellite access is likely to remain a requirement for the remoter mountain regions.

The SILK project provides connectivity to GÉANT2 from the NRENs of the eight newly independent states (NISs) of the Caucasus and Central Asia - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - and of Afghanistan. The second generation of the SILK network, SILK-2, connects its partners via satellite links to a router at DESY in Germany, from which the onward connection to GÉANT2 is provided by DFN. Connectivity is largely funded by NATO, and this support has been extended until at least late 2009.

The OCCASION project manages SILK-2, and provides additional features (e.g. network management, VoIP and videoconferencing tools) and services such as information, CSIRTs and operational support. Deployment and maintenance of these aspects help researchers in the SILK countries to collaborate with their colleagues in the European Union; facilitating such collaboration is a specific objective of the project.

OCCASION is designed to:

• Advance collaboration between European researchers and those in the Caucasus and Central Asia - the Silk countries
• Help develop the National Research and Educational Networks (NRENs) in the SILK countries - both in terms of technology and facilities
• Assess the progress in the SILK countries towards an international fibre infrastructure
• Identify and support user groups in the region that would benefit from the support of advanced network connectivity and collaboration tools.
• Provide training for these user groups to ensure that they can make best use of the network for their research.