Ankabut Users' Meeting holds at Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi

The opening address was given by His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan to an audience of over 400 representatives from higher education and education organizations throughout the UAE.

In his remarks, HE Sheikh Nahayan, said, "Ankabut is an excellent hub as it enables us to discover the realm of human experience as the network spreads out to intellectual and creative centers in the UAE and extends to similar points around the world. Ankabut allows us to connect, communicate and collaborate. It provides individuals and institutions with the knowledge and the ability to retrieve and analyze a large quantity of information."

HE Sheikh Nahyan also added, "The president, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan advocate the international understanding and cooperation, Ankabut technology allows us to reach beyond our borders. I'm quite excited by the great potential of Ankabut network and its centrality in building of our national capacity in education and research."

At the conclusion of his address an MoU signing with eFADA, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries took place. The leadership of nine organizations signed as founding members.
The mission of the Consortium is to create and provide access to a shared knowledge environment that supports the teaching, learning and research goals of its members.

It shall enhance the education and research resources available to stimulate the UAE's knowledge economy. Overall, eFADA seeks to harness the power of information and knowledge to contribute to the continued development of UAE society.

Mr. Fahem Al-Nuaimi gave the welcoming address on behalf of Ankabut, he said, "Ankabut is a project managed by Khalifa University and funded by both the University and ICT fund, a TRA initiative and we are thankful to ICT fund and TRA for their support. Ankabut is the project manager of the newly born eFADA initiative and our aim is to ensure that all members of ANKABT are included in the consortium in the near future."

Dr. Eric Fouache Vice Chancellor of Paris Sorbonne University and host of the Users' meeting gave his address in which he said, "As an institution committed to supporting research and academic innovation by elevating education standards, it gives us immense privilege to host this year's Ankabut Conference. The turn out today signifies the importance of collaboration by sharing strategies and technological knowledge which definitely lends major momentum to achieving the national goals outlined in Abu Dhabi's Vision 2030."

The keynote presentation was presented by Patrick Donath the General Manager of RENATER (The National Research and Education Network for France).

Day one of the event also witnessed a panel discussion on the opportunities and challenges in UAE-based high performance computing research. The panel was moderated by Dr. Tod Laursen, Khalifa University's President and included speakers from the UAE's higher education sector.

Day Two of the event will feature a keynote presentation by Dr. Thomas Zacharia. Dr. Zacharia serves as the Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Qatar Foundation. The Ankabut Roundtable Session is a forum in which participants may share their thoughts in UAE educational opportunities and challenges. The five sessions are: Libraries, Research, IT, E-Learning and K-12.

During the Users' Meeting seventeen breakout sessions will be held, from speakers of the UAE higher education and technology community focused on current activities in the fields of teaching, applications and research.

The Ankabut Users' Meeting was sponsored by Gold Sponsors: CA Technologies and Naseej Silver Sponsor: Dell Computers Bronze sponsors: Ellucian and F5-Secureway and Exhibitors; Pearson, RedHat, Sonic Foundry, and ProQuest.