17 Jan. 2003

New link on the Virtual Silk Highway A ceremony of inauguration was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, on 17 January, to launch the Kyrgyz link in the “Virtual Silk Highway”. The Virtual Silk Highway is a NATO project that provides satellite-based networking to the academic communities of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Mr. Askar Akaev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, attended the ceremony, and participated in the first video link-up with officials of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) at the network hub in Hamburg, Germany. He presented a certificate to the NATO programme director responsible for the Silk Project to show his appreciation for NATO’s support. In his speech, President Akaev stated that "…this telecommunication project can create a virtual information “Silk” highway and integrate academic computer networks of our country into the global information area, and thus reduce the present “Digital Divide” between industrially developed countries and developing countries." He praised the Silk project not only for its benefits to the development of his own country, but noted that it would also serve regional cooperation between the countries of Central Asia, stimulating collaboration between universities and academies of science, and developments in distance learning. The Silk project is now well underway, with five countries having received satellite equipment – Uzbekistan, Georgia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyz Republic. The project is also receiving support from other organisations, including the multinational electronics company Cisco Systems, and DESY of Hamburg, who have operational responsibility for the network hub. Additional information: NATO Science Programme