AARNet gets an education

David Swan
Thursday, 07 July 2011 14:47

IT Industry - Development

 

AARNet has announced a strategic agreement with Cisco, which will see it connect multiple academic institutions locally and internationally to facilitate cross institutional meetings.

 

 

This new solution will expand the portfolio of services provided by AARNet's National Video Conferencing Service (NVCS), and will come online progressively from October 2011.

The Cisco TelePresence solution will enable customers on AARNet's network to have  virtual meeting experiences at different locations, and will apparently enable customers to invite meeting participants from across Australia to a virtual table at high definition resolution.

Education and research institutions will gain a tool that will bring geographically dispersed researchers together into a single conference to facilitate discussions, share ideas and make decisions.

'Cisco TelePresence meetings provide an immersive collaboration environment, allowing participants to decipher facial expressions and body language as if they were in the same room. This new service removes geographical barriers, providing Australia's research and education community direct exposure to instructors, colleagues and experts across the nation.' said James Sankar, AARNet Director, Applications and Services.

'This new solution is an exciting expansion to the video conferencing capabilities supported by AARNet. It will sit alongside our existing high definition video bridging service, providing a launching pad for next generation video conferencing services."

Assoc. Prof. Richard Constantine, CIO of Swinburne University, member of the AARNet Board of Directors and Chair of the AARNet Advisory Committee said, 'Whether we are talking about teaching, learning or research, there is no doubt that how education institutions are augmenting how educators and students communicate and collaborate is changing in an unprecedented manner. Swinburne University is looking forward to the added capability of Cisco TelePresence to enable collaborative education and research between the well-renown Parkes Observatory, Swinburne's Advanced Technology Centre, five Victorian campuses and others nationally and worldwide.'

'Cisco is excited to be partnering with AARNet to help students, educators and researchers in different locations around Australia and the world feel like they are sitting in one room via Cisco TelePresence,' said Ken Boal, Director of Public Sector for Cisco Australia and New Zealand.

'Whether it's making it easier for researchers to connect or bringing together new university partnerships, this immersive meeting experience platform will improve Australia's higher education and research collaboration capabilities.'