Cairo – Chaired by HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh and hosted by the
Egyptian Academy for Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT), the Arab States
Research and education Network (ASREN) has successfully conducted its 12th
annual conference (e-AGE22) in the Conrad Cairo Hotel,  during the
period:13-14 December 2022.

e-AGE22 provided a window for global collaboration, by gathering
more than 50 distinguished speakers and experts from across the research, education
and science communities around the world, and more than 120 on-site and online
participants from over 40 countries.

e-AGE22 activities concentrated on “Science Cooperation - Taking
NRENs Further” as the main theme, featuring 2 days of presentations and
discussions spread over 6 sessions on topics related to Enabling Cooperation,
NRENs developments and challenges, National, Regional and Global Science
Cooperation, Open Science, Open Access and Clouds.

e-AGE22 also presented the efforts and the contribution of
 NRENs for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) through connectivity and dedicated services to R&E communities and
beyond, as well as the vital nature of RENs to Climate Action, Earth
Observation and more.

The e-AGE22 opening session was attended by a large number of
high-level officials and representatives including; Prof. Mahmoud Sakr,
President of Academy of Scientific Research and Technology in Egypt,  Dr.
Farrag Al-Ajami, Minister Plenipotentiaryof the League of Arab
States,  Prof. Basri Saleh, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and
Scientific Research in Palestine,  Prof. Moncef Boukthir, Minister of
Higher Education and Scientific Research of Tunisia, represented by Prof.
Saoussen Krichen, Director General at CCK,  Ambassador Christian Berger,
Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt, HE Prof. Abdelmajid Benamara,
Secretary General at the Federation of Arab Scientific Research Councils
(FASRC) in Sudan, Dr. Nuria Sanz, UNESCO CAIRO Office Director and UNESCO
Representative to Egypt.

HE
Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of ASREN and TAG.GLOBAL emphasized the
importance of advancing  Arab e-Infrastructure towards enhancing
education, science and technology as well as developing innovation capacity and
the importance of collaboration of research and education leaders across the
Arab region and beyond. “In the Arab region, we are proud of the recent
development in the field of research and education networks and the services
provided in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Syria, Lebanon,
Palestine, Jordan, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. As we
believe in cooperation and joint teamwork, all our work and activities stem
from partnership, whether with Arab national, regional and international
institutions and organizations, especially Arab NRENs in those countries.” Dr.
Abu Ghazaleh said.

He further acknowledged the role of the European Union in
co-funding high-speed networks in the Arab region in the context of
EUMEDCONNECT projects for more than 15 years; and AfricaConnect projects for 12
years- still continuing.

The high-level opening featured goodwill messages from Regional
Research and Education Networks around the globe including; WACREN for West and
Central Africa, Ubuntunet Alliance for Eastern and Southern​ Africa, the
European GÉANT Network, Internet2 in the United States and TEIN*CC emphasizing
the necessity of cooperation at the global level to support and facilitate
research, education and science collaboration globally.

A number of achievement have been witnessed, including; the
announcement of the new “MEDUSA” project with a €40 million EU grant to secure
direct high-speed connectivity of 200 Gbps between the research and education
communities and users in the North African countries and Europe for 20 years.

In the meantime, e-AGE22 has celebrated the signing of cooperation
agreements with the Egyptian Academy for Scientific Research and Technology
ASRT and the Federation of Arab Scientific Research Councils FASRC and the coming
agreement with UNESCO with an aim of uniting efforts among Arab countries in
promoting and enabling scientific, research, educational and academic
cooperation.

The opening session was concluded with a keynote presentation from
the Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle
East (SESAME) demonstrating the importance of the international dedicated link
provided by ASREN, which contributes directly to the success of SESAME and
empowering its user communities from all over the world.

At the end, the Tunisian Computing Center al Khawarizmi (CCK) was
officially announced as the host of the next e-AGE23 in the
wonderful Tunisia in December 2023.