International networking for health research

Tanzania is one step ahead of South Africa in privatisation of its telecoms infrastructure. This has resulted in a rush to upgrade data networks in a bid to stay competitive and offer continuous improvements in service to the end users.

These end-users are anyone from the private individuals who use the country`s extensive network of public-access Internet facilities (similar to the community IT centres in South Africa), to businesses of all sizes and the public sector. One of the largest of the new projects falls under the Ministry of Health, which is co-ordinating a vast academic research network joining Tanzania to neighbouring nations and research centres in Europe and America.

Much of the network backbone equipment is based on 3Com systems, supplied through the Tanzanian partner company, Quality Computers. Hassan Versi, business development director of Quality Computers (Tanzania), explains how the company has grown to the point where it can meet this challenge. "The sales division now covers retail, corporate and reseller markets and the technical side has a full team of experts and offers ISP services. The company also offers IT consulting services. A large staff complement, which includes specialists from Europe and India, covers pre-sales consulting, contacts, sales, commissioning, after-sales service and warranties."

With over ten years` experience in the industry, Quality Computers has a full range of hardware and software from selected overseas suppliers which has been checked, approved and field tested by their own expert staff. The company is very active in Tanzania, where the IT industry is expanding rapidly after government moves to deregulate telecoms, and is supplying clients and resellers in many other countries of the Central and East African region.

Among Quality Computers` present corporate clients are a number of the country`s large businesses and many of Tanzania`s government departments, including the Ministry of Health.

The new regional project for the Health Ministry began during 2000 and has been funded and supported by a number of medical research organisations in Scandinavia and America. While these bodies have world-class resources in terms of staff and equipment, the problem has been that studying Africa`s serious infectious diseases - such as malaria, HIV/Aids or the rare Ebola virus - needs to be done at the source, where there are few advanced clinical facilities.

This resulted in the project to link hospitals, clinics and research centres throughout Tanzania and the neighbouring countries of Kenya and Uganda to a central data warehouse in Dar es Salaam, from where the collected information can be sent overseas via the Internet. This necessitated a very advanced network infrastructure at the data centre in Dar es Salaam with the capacity to link to remote users across the region, whether they are using laptops, desktops or their own network systems.

Much of this connectivity was made possible by the rapidly expanding data transfer infrastructure which has been established in Tanzania since the deregulation of parastatal telecoms. This includes an existing, copper cable-based PSTN (public switched telephone network), V-Sat satellite connections and a new project to provide data access for remote areas via a network of microwave-linked towers which function much like a GSM cellular system.

Quality Computers called on 3Com SA, which has taken care of the entire network backbone for the project, which connects all three participating countries. This network feeds into servers at the Muhimbili University College of Health and Science in Dar es Salaam, where there are 12 to 14 buildings over a three-kilometre radius linked in a fibre-optic MAN (metropolitan area network).

The system already handles data and voice requirements and video will be introduced in the near future. The bandwidth to make this possible has been made available by the privatisation of the national telecoms, the use of V-Sat satellite links and, of course, a vast number of 3Com switches, hubs and network cards.

Not only is the network designed to handle large volumes of traffic, it is also scalable for future expansion. Rack-mount standards have been used throughout to facilitate this. For the backbone, there are 24-port, SuperStack II 3300 switches, SuperStack II 1100 switches and dual-speed hubs. Practically the whole range of 3Com products have been used because much of the data capture is coming from people who are mobile and using laptops. This has meant using thousands of PCM cards, mobile GSM cards and modem cards.

3Com has been active in the consulting and design stages of this vast project, just as it has provided support for the implementation.

Quality Computers had been familiar with 3Com products for many years as a result of supplying many of its customers with networking equipment. "We were confident that 3Com offered a high-quality solution which delivered the best technology at a cost-effective price," says Versi. "We were certain of our choice of technology partner.

"The added advantage was in the design and consulting services which 3Com provided, as well as the technical support for the installation. This is an ongoing process as the project is being completed in phases."

The combination of the on-site experience and expertise of Quality Computers and the support abilities of 3Com`s regional offices in Harare and Johannesburg ensured the success of the project.

One of the main achievements of the network as a whole is flexibility. This was a prerequisite as the communications links varied between normal PSTN cables, satellite links and local networks of Cat 5 and fibre-optic cabling. Also, the individual users access the system with a variety of different machines, including mobile laptops and fixed desktops.

Plans for the next phase of the installation include upgrading to handle video-conferencing as well as extending the network to cover medical facilities in even the most remote parts of the region.

Versi explains the need for future growth of the already extensive network: "This is essential since the study of infectious disease transmission and treatment depends on information collected from many different environments, as was recently exemplified by the unexpected outbreak of Ebola virus in a remote part of Uganda."

Fortunately, extending the network is being helped by the projects which the local telecoms are undertaking to improve their services in terms of coverage and quality across the country.