National Knowledge Network (NKN)

The National Knowledge Network (NKN) project aims to build a strong and resilient Indian network capable of providing secure and dependable connectivity. Frontier Research and innovation shift toward a multidisciplinary and collaborative paradigm, requiring effective communication and computational power.

To address such paradigm shifts in India, NKN, with its multi-gigabit capacity, plans to interface all colleges, research organisations, libraries, labs, medical care, and agrarian foundations the nation over. 

The primary mission-organized institutions for the domains of atomic, space, and protection research are also a part of NKN. By working with the progression of data and information, the organisation resolves the basic issue of access and creates a new height of collaboration to better the nation’s R&D endeavours.

The system is constructed with a proactive mindset in mind, taking into consideration potential demands and new opportunities that this infrastructure may create, both in terms of usefulness and perception. This will usher in a knowledge transformation that will play a critical role in reshaping society and supporting inclusive and sustainable growth.

Background:

1. To improve access to knowledge, the country has long felt the need to establish a National Knowledge Network (NKN) that connects all knowledge and research institutions via a high bandwidth network. Globally, R&D activities and innovations are becoming more multidisciplinary and collaborative, necessitating significant communication/computational power.
2. To emerge as a significant R&D hub, India must join this wave of collaboration and co-creation.
3. The idea of establishing a National Knowledge Network was discussed at the office of the Prime Minister’s Principal Scientific Advisor, and the National Knowledge Commission met with key stakeholders such as experts, potential users, telecom service providers, and educational and research institutions.
4. These discussions have resulted in a consensus on the best approach to take when establishing such a network to provide a unified high-speed network backbone for all sectors.

Role of National Knowledge Network:

1. Creating high-speed backbone connectivity that will allow NKN-connected institutes to share knowledge and information.
2. NKN-connected institutes can now collaborate on research, development, and innovation.
3. Providing advanced distance education in specialised fields such as engineering, science, social science, and medicine,  among others.
4. The other role of the National Knowledge network is to create an ultra-fast e-governance backbone.
5. Facilitating the connection of various sectoral networks in the field of research.

Vision:

1. The National Knowledge Network (NKN) is a cutting-edge Pan-India network that represents a watershed moment in creating a knowledge society without borders. It will provide unprecedented benefits to the scientific community and humanity as a whole.
2. Using NKN, all vibrant institutions with vision and passion will overcome space and time constraints in accessing information and knowledge, resulting in benefits for themselves and society.
3. It will help India’s information infrastructure develop, stimulate research, and create next-generation applications and services.

Mission:

1. The National Knowledge Network (NKN) is a significant step that will allow scientists, researchers, and students from across the country to collaborate to advance human development in critical and emerging areas. NKN is intended to provide high availability, QoS, security, and dependability. The mission of NKN is to build quality institutions with necessary research facilities and create a pool of highly trained professionals.
2. The edge institutions would seamlessly connect to NKN at gigabit speeds. The National Knowledge Network (NKN) will be a critical information infrastructure for India’s evolution as a knowledge society.

Goal:

1. The NKN is intended to connect all the country’s knowledge and research institutions via a high bandwidth/low latency network. NKN was founded with the following characteristics in mind:
2. Creating high-speed backbone connectivity that will allow for the sharing of knowledge and information; enabling collaborative research, development, and innovation
3. Providing advanced distance education in specialised fields such as engineering, science, and medicine, among others.
4. Creating a high-speed backbone for e-government
5. Facilitating the integration of various sectoral networks in research, education, health, commerce, and governance.
6. Connect to Global Networks to collaborate with research communities all over the world.

Conclusion:

In this article, we saw the points on the National Knowledge Network and its background. We also learnt about its roles, vision, mission, and goals. The National Knowledge Network (NKN) is a smart mega-network that smoothly connects the world’s premier knowledge and industrial institutions to conduct global-scale research and development. NKN design is aggressive by nature; it addresses requirements that may arise in the short and long term.