Special deal will result in many schools getting connected to Net
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The Asian Institute of Technology and the Office of Higher Education have joined forces to enable thousands of schools across Thailand to get connected to the Internet for the first time.
Through a memorandum of understanding, AIT will provide 32,768 IPv4 addresses to be used by OHEC subsidiary the Office of Information Technology Administration for Educational Development (UniNet), which is in need of Internet addresses for schools in Thailand.
UniNet provides high-speed information network linkage to universities, institutes and campuses. By connecting with research networks located in foreign countries, the agency enables Thailand’s higher education institutes to manage their virtual classrooms located abroad.
As the world is now in short supply of IPv4 address, AIT’s goodwill gesture to Thailand will enable many thousands of students to learn and research online from high-end digital resources.
AIT will also benefit by securing access to UniNet’s high-speed fiber optic research and education networks of at least one Gbps. The independent international post-graduate institute will receive the same rights and privileges as a full member of UniNet, with the same access as Thai universities to domestic and international education networks, as well as to the commercial Internet.
OHEC secretary-general Kamjorn Tatiyakavee said the deal would give a boost to the Ministry of Education’s efforts to promote IT-based learning and research via the Internet.
Kamjorn said the government aimed to achieve a “digital economy” in the near future, so connecting all of the nation’s schools is an important step forward.
AIT president Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai said the Pathumthani-based institute was thankful for the generous support it received from the government, and was pleased to partner OHEC to improve the country’s online connectivity in education.
