Google is providing $3.1M to the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) to grow their work to bring local network engineering expertise to universities and national research & education networks (NRENs) across Sub-Saharan Africa. Through labs and a train-the-trainers program, NSRC will provide hands-on training on campus network planning, deployment, and management for over 600 university and NREN staff. Their work will bring the Internet to students and staff at over 50 institutions and increase network engineering know-how in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Google is also supporting Internet Society (ISOC), providing $1.3M to improve and create Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in emerging markets stating that IXPs play a big role in core Internet infrastructure, allowing Internet Service Providers to peer locally (and cheaply), which can lower end user costs, promote competition, and improve user experience. ISOC will create a toolkit for those who want to create and improve IXPs and build an industry portal to share IXP information and data.
In a blog post Google says that by supporting the work of NSRC and ISOC, they can make sure that internet access opportunities are available to more people in more parts of the world.
