With the recent NBN project controversy, a lot of people in the media have taken notice of PREGINET. We have released this official press article to avoid any comparison with the NBN project, and at the same time, clarify misleading facts cited in some news articles.

Global research collaboration delivers benefits to the Philippines using advanced network technologies

QUEZON CITY, 19 September 2007 -- The launch of global scale research collaboration activities that utilize high-speed networks and advanced network technologies have demonstrated that the world is indeed getting smaller, paving the way for the concept of a global community. Through the Philippine Research, Education, and Government Information Network (PREGINET), the country is now able to participate and engage in joint projects with research institutions globally. This enables local researchers and academics to collaborate with colleagues here and abroad.

The PREGINET is a project funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and is implemented by the DOST’s Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI). It is a research and education network that was envisioned to be a catalyst for collaborative research and development among government, academic, and research institutions. At present, there are 76 partners connected to the network coming from research (29); academe (14); and government (33).

Advanced network technologies are changing the way surgeries are conducted. It is now possible to do real-time medical consultations and live surgical demonstrations between two or more remote hospitals.

The medical session of the Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN) meetings has been one of the most interesting sessions during this bi-annual gathering of APAN-member countries since it started broadcasting live surgical demonstrations remotely. In the recently held 24th APAN Meeting in Xi'an, China, a number of surgical demonstrations were conducted and broadcasted live to different remote sites in other countries.