The Azerbaijani and Belarusian networks for research and education have connected to the GÉANT European network, allowing scientists and students in Azerbaijan and Belarus to exchange and collaborate with their peers from around the world.

Enabling these connections, the EU-funded Eastern Partnership Connect (EaPConnect) project aims to create a world-class research and education (R&E) network in the Eastern Partnership region, connecting Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to the GÉANT European backbone network. This is in line with the European Neighbourhood policy that supports increased interconnectivity and economic development for the European Union and its neighbours.

Professor Rasim Alguliyev, Director of IIT of ANAS – the Institute of Information Technology of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences – says: ‘’This link opens the door to new opportunities for Azerbaijan and brings our community closer to Europe. Together we can discover more solutions to the challenges we all face. I trust EaPConnect will bring positive changes across the region."

Steve Cotter, CEO of GÉANT, adds: ‘’Connecting Belarus and Azerbaijan builds up our pool of talents and resources. The Eastern Partnership is evolving quickly and GÉANT is proud to be the first to connect to the region. With many opportunities to collaborate on research in climate change, seismology, high-energy physics or high-performance computing and e-learning, we can be sure our networks will allow better cooperation and bring forth the breakthroughs the world needs more quickly.’’

Seizing the momentum, the R&E networking organisations worked together through EaPConnect to organise the first Eastern Partnership E-infrastructure Conference (EaPEC) in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 6-7 October 2016