THE UBUNTUNET ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORKING

Their core work

UbuntuNet Alliance is the regional research and education network (RREN) for Eastern and Southern Africa, connecting national research and education networks (NRENs) across the continent to global research infrastructure like GÉANT. They build and operate high-capacity internet backbone linking African universities and research institutions to each other and to international partners. In H2020, they contributed to extending European e-infrastructure into Africa, enabling cross-continental scientific collaboration and supporting the development of science gateways for African researchers.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

All three projects fall within the same 2015-2017 window, making it difficult to identify a strong temporal shift. Early keywords emphasize physical network connectivity (NRENs, communication networks, AfricaConnect, GÉANT), while later keywords shift toward the application layer — science gateways and e-science. This suggests a progression from building the pipes to making them useful for researchers.

Moving from raw connectivity toward enabling actual scientific use of African research networks, which signals readiness for application-level collaboration projects.

How they like to work

UbuntuNet always participates as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as a regional infrastructure body that joins EU-led initiatives rather than driving them. With 28 unique partners across 21 countries from just 3 projects, they operate in very large international consortia. They function as the essential African gateway partner, the organization European projects need when they want to extend infrastructure or services into sub-Saharan Africa.

Remarkably broad network for a small organization: 28 consortium partners across 21 countries from only 3 projects, reflecting the large multi-continental consortia typical of e-infrastructure initiatives. Their geographic spread bridges Europe and Africa.

What sets them apart

UbuntuNet is the go-to partner for any EU project that needs to connect with African research and education networks. As the RREN for Eastern and Southern Africa, they are not one of many options — they ARE the infrastructure layer. For consortium builders targeting EU-Africa scientific cooperation, UbuntuNet provides institutional legitimacy, existing network infrastructure, and direct relationships with NRENs across the continent.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MAGIC
  Largest EC contribution (EUR 128,025) and focused on middleware — the most technically ambitious of their three projects, moving beyond connectivity into collaborative applications.
• Sci-GaIA
  Directly addressed the usability gap by building science gateways for African researchers, representing the shift from infrastructure to actual scientific impact.