Oman Research & Education Network

Join us today to:Connect,

Collaborate,& Innovate.

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OMREN Vision & Mission

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“To enable a technically, financially manageable and sustainable national

Information and Communication Technology infrastructure and services

that shall effectively contribute to the development of innovation,

research, education, strategic and international e-collaboration with the

research and education community of the Sultanate of Oman”

“To be the partner of choice for the research and education sector in the

Sultanate of Oman through the provision of world class e-infrastructure

and services continuously meeting the sector needs”

OMREN OBJECTIVES

1. To provide the research and education community in the Sultanate of Oman with a common network and collaboration infrastructure dedicated and adapted to their needs.

2. To provide high-speed, high availability, high performance connectivity between all NREN users over a state-of-the-art telecommunication network.

3. To provide users with high-speed, high availability, high performance connectivity to the general Internet as well as other international NRENs.

4. To enable a wide range of e-collaboration and knowledge sharing applications for researchers, faculty and students over this network.

5. To establish and enable shared network related applications and services; and facilitate the adoption of advanced Internet technologies to benefit the research and education community.

6. To develop and provide excellence in the NREN management and representation to benefit the community through an adapted organization, processes and skills.

7. Achieve sustainable level of funding for growth.

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OMREN FRAMEWORK

• CANARIE, Australia's Academic and Research Network – AARNet, JANET – UK NREN, ANKABUT – UAE, QATAR Foundation – QATAR NREN, etc.

• Based on best international practices OMREN Applications and Services Framework was designed to be a roadmap for OMREN developments.

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PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS

91500

10250

Number of Students Instructors & Admin

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Infrastructure, Applications, Stakeholders

NRENs

Students

Administrators

Researchers

Educators

Parents

Lack of reliable real time information for effective

decision making, Cost

Limited focus on research and innovation due to operational work

load, ResourcesLack of International

Collaboration

Inadequate knowledge sharing and collaboration

frameworks, Complications

Non-availability of unified platform – SIS, CRM, ERP,

Intuitiveness

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Research & Education Current Challenges

Low research Activities /

Quality

High Operation

Cost of Universities/

Colleges

Multiple Manual

Intervention

Lack of effective

Decision making

Student Retention

Knowledge Sharing /

Collaboration

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OMREN Value Additions- Helping strategic moves

Productive Communication Infrastructure

Improved Teaching Experience & Course Availability

Real time Responsive Systems for Decision Making

On Demand Resource Warehouse

Comprehensive Business Operation Management

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Collaborative Research Activities

OMREN Advantage – Government

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Centralized yet Decentralized

Allows universities to function efficiently and autonomously with unified governance framework

Real-time monitoring &

reporting

Dashboard to track fund utilization, resource management, student population, etc.

Agile policy formulation & quick decision

making

Access to accurate information helps in effective policy formulation and decision making

Managed cloud for Security &

Privacy

Assure privacy while promote operability

Economic Model with shared

resources

Unified Data Center, Applications & Administration

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OMREN Advantage - Universities

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Enhanced Student, Faculty and Employee

Experience

- Unified application platform- Video Conferencing- Eduroam / Edugain / OmanKID- Easy transfer between colleges- Eliminating Operational challenges

High speed & Reliable

Connectivity

1 Gbps MPLS with 99.95% up -time.

Internet2 for International Collaboration -

Secure and Reliable connectivity -

Enhanced Research & Education

Collaboration

- Access to VSL, LMS - Access to Grid computing & HPC - Research Information Database and Management

Economic Solution

Shared Resources. -No Administration or AMC -

Remote Data center -Discounted Internet subscriptions -

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BFMS

Infrastructure

- High Speed NW- Reliable with SLA- Cost affective- Cloud Platform- Mobile Ready

- Admissions, Registration, Graduation, Alumni

- Student Affairs & Scholarships- Library & Resources - Learning Objects & Exams- Academic Calendar & Scheduling- Collaboration

- Full Fledged ERP with HR, Payroll, Finance, planning, Inventory, Procurement, Tendering, Fundraising, etc.- CMS & Workflow

- Communication - Social Media- Self Services- Automation- Change management

- Budget Planning- Fund Raising- AR, AP, GL, CoA- Sustainability management

- Hostel Management- Transportation Management- Building & Facility Management- Events Management

- Skill & Certification Mapping- Student Counselling- Job postings- Placement services- Research Awards

- Dashboard &Reports- Advanced Analysis- Big Data, BI

OMREN Solution Components

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Infrastructure

Collaborative

Agile & Adaptive

Customer Centric

Innovative

-Provide Leading edge technology-Promoting Innovation &

entrepreneurship

- Understand all constituents- Provide the best experience based

on real needs

- Dynamic & Scalable- Responsive Change management

- Foster Collaboration- Advance Workflow - Multilingual on Data, Screen and

Help file

- Maintain Security- Preserve Privacy- Track & Audit- Maintain data Integrity- Yet remain open to Innovation

OMREN Solution Characteristics

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Secure

BFMS

What is the current Status?

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Internet and IP Services( E-mail & Web Hosting, NTP, VPN)

Federated Authentication (OmanKID)

Common Services

TRESS *

Research Directory *

Equipment DB *Specified Services

Research HealthCommunities Education

Virtual Learning Environment

Faculty InformationSystem

Mobile learning

Distance Learning

Student InformationSystem

OMREN Network Infrastructure (National & International Connectivity) Feb 2016

Unified Communications ( Video Conferencing, VoIP, Instant messaging) Feb 2016

Local E-Library Sep 2016

Virtual Science Library + Virtual Research

Environment

Mar2016

Grid Computing

High Performance Computing

2017

E-Health Record System

Hospital Management System

2017

Eduroam Feb 2016

2016

• Connect to OMREN via 1 Gbps MPLS line. For:• highly secured Research link with proper backup, DR and SLA.• high speed access to learning materials (Text, Audio, & Video)• High speed voice and video conferencing between colleges & HQ, and other OMREN members• High speed access to Virtual Science Library, TRC applications such as TRESS, e-Library, etc.• High speed access to Unified SIS application OMREN-CS with much more added values such as

built-in LMS with improved reliability and security for better business continuity.• Potential access to world standard applications related to educational and research institution

management such as (ERP, CRM, BI systems, Dashboard).• High speed access to the Research Management Information System• High speed access to local applications built by the ministry or colleges.

• Connectivity to the Internet2 to access international research networks. • Internet connectivity of 400-550 Mbps for Web surfing which is expected to give over double the current

speed provided properly managed.• Students will have extended connectivity through the optional data SIM card.• Access to Grid computing and HPC services when implemented locally or via internet2. • Eduroam allows students and faculty members to roam around all OMREN/Internet2 members with the

same user id to gain access to provided services. • SQU will be recognized at OMREN web site.

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Proposed Solution:

Sultan Qaboos University

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Without SQU With SQU

Other funding Resources for sustainability year 4+

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TRC Contribution

Sector Contribution (OMREN Membership)

MOHE & SQU Contribution on initial acquisition

Students Contribution through ISP revenue share

Society Contribution – Companies ICV

Use OBC ring for MPLS connectivity

Sell added value products

Create OMREN NW & Internet

36%

50%

7%7%

Government SectorPrivate ICV Students

THANK YOU

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SQU