FAQs
What is CAREN?
CAREN builds on the achievements of the NATO-funded Silk project, which pioneered research networking in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Originally deploying satellite technology, it more recently started upgrading to fibre optics. Taking advantage of the developing telecommunications market in the region, CAREN set out to deliver improved connectivity with more stable and higher capacity international connections. The project was launched in 2009 with its first phase successfully completed in October 2013. The second phase (CAREN2) terminated in August 2015 with the partner countries being temporarily disconnected whilst terms and conditions for the follow-up phase being negotiated with the EC. The project resumed in 2016, initially connecting Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan where bilateral financing agreements between the countries and the EC had been signed. |
Who manages CAREN?
GÉANT is a non-profit organisation founded by the European NRENs implementing the GÉANT network in Europe. It has unique experience in establishing research and education networks, managing large-scale connections and capacity-building for NRENs. For this reason, and thanks to its non-profit character as well as public background, it is also involved in developing research and education networks in other regions across the globe. In Asia, GÉANT has successfully managed to set up the TEIN network which provides a dedicated high-capacity Internet for over 55 million users. |
How is CAREN funded? |
Why is the EU supporting research and education networking in Central Asia?
Supporting the creation and functioning of such networks, the EC support enables the academic institutions in less developed countries to get connected to the outside world and exchange information with more advanced partners. This is a huge step in decreasing the digital divide between the developing and developed world. With access to modern technologies, the education and research sectors get modernised and drive the change in other sectors which, in turn, contributes to increased economic development, opens up societies in developing countries and fosters democracy. |
What is the CAREN network used for?
Various other areas benefit from the improved internet capacity, including tele-medicine initiatives in Tajikistan, planned textile research collaborations between the London College of Fashion and partner colleges in Tashkent, and environmental monitoring of the Issyk-Kul basin between the Kyrgyz Institute of Physics and partner institutes in Germany and the USA. Various distance learning projects are already underway, such as in Turkmenistan in collaboration with the Technical University of Hamburg and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. |