Cyberinfrastructure for international competitiveness

Abstract

Cyberinfrastructure is a combination of massive processing capability, high-speed connectivity, massive storage facilities and highly skilled personnel. Leading nations have invested significantly in these facilities and closely aligned them with their economic activities. South Africa has in the past decade invested in the national cyberinfrastructure to enable cutting-edge research and development within its academic institutions and industry. There is sufficient evidence that through access to these facilities, researchers in South Africa have started to produce high-quality scientific outputs. Furthermore, South Africa has managed to attract big international science projects, such as the Square Kilometre Array, and continues to contribute to international science projects such as the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN. Benefits are being realised through efficient connectivity and decrease in the cost of bandwidth. In this presentation, Sithole will provide an overview of the cyberinfrastructure in South Africa, and through examples of user experience, demonstrate the competitiveness of research and industry in the country.