Users of the WACREN Zoom service will start experiencing better services with the WACREN deployment of Zoom servers across the region. Dr Boubakar Barry, the CEO of WACREN, announced this last month at the 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Ghanaian Academic and Research Network (GARNET), hosted by the University of Development Studies in Tamale, Ghana. This entails deploying part of the zoom cloud infrastructure on servers in the WACREN network so video, voice and content sharing data are local for the best user experience. When these deployments are completed, national RENs offering the WACREN Zoom service will be able to provide the improved low-latency video service to their communities through their networks and mobiles via connected Internet exchanges. Since 2019, WACREN has provided its community with cost-effective Zoom licenses through Member NRENs. The service proved invaluable when the COVID-19 pandemic made face-to-face academic work impossible, causing higher education institutions to develop and or enhance their e-learning and distance learning delivery. Over 300,000 students, researchers and administrative staff have used the videoconferencing service for academic and administrative work, with the Ghana and Nigeria communities being the highest service users. At the AGM, Dr Barry also announced that WACREN would embark on a marketing promotion to create more visibility for less-known services to increase their uptake and the footprints of its Trust and Identity (T&I) portfolio in the WACREN region.
