Abu Dhabi 16 November 2015: Under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research the first day of the Khalifa University based UAE Advanced Network for Research and Education or Ankabut Users’ Meeting boasted informative and engaging discussions on subjects revolving around the idea of “Serving Innovation.” The two day event which is being held at New York University Abu Dhabi attracted leaders of industry and academia from around the UAE including senior management from Khalifa University.
The event was opened by Dr. Arif Al Hammadi Executive Vice President of Khalifa University and Chairman of Ankabut’s Executive Board and followed by an update on Ankabut’s progress by its Chief Executive Officer Fahem Al-Nuaimi. Notable presentations were given by Dr. Eesa Mohammed Bastaki the President of the University of Dubai who spoke about working towards the creation of sustainable smart cities and by Dr. Naguib F. Attia Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of IBM MEA who talked about ICT shifts in the 21st century and their impact on education policy and practices.
Breakouts sessions followed the opening remarks featuring discussions about the UAE’s national strategy for education and innovation cloud computing supercomputing without borders and the uses of information in teaching and learning.
“Innovation is key to the achievement of the wise vision forged by the leadership of the UAE ” said Dr. Arif Al Hammadi “Ankabut and the services it offers the academic institutions in this country are vital to innovation and vital to our students continued success and academic growth. Connecting academic institutions and making knowledge share easier more accessible and faster allows for greater collaboration and greater communication which can’t help but lead to innovation. Khalifa University is proud to support Ankabut and benefit from the services it provides us.”
Fahem Al Nuaimi said “This users meeting aims to bring innovation and inspiration to the participants educational technology and vicariously to students. Ankabut offers a high speed network that can facilitate collaboration and allow our students to view or virtually participate in things like lecture surgeries and research happening thousands of kilometres away this is hugely beneficial and it’s only the surface of what Ankabut provides its users. We strive to create a global learning and research environment and our users meetings are a way to make sure we are achieving that.”
Day two of the event will feature further breakout sessions focussing on adaptive smart learning technologies innovation in digital assessment and managing software in scientific computing environments.
Ankabut offers academic institutions connectivity to other education networks around the world. It enables closed community networks that allows for the transfer of real-time services such as voice and video communication time-critical services such as grid computing interconnect (cloud computing) public internet services web hosting and other services.
