Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 10 | Page 12

NEWS Hurricane Electric expands global network to East Africa Data Centre tenants as well as parallel UPS systems and N+1 diesel generators to maintain uptime. With the launch of Hurricane Electric’s newest PoP, customers of the East Africa Data Centre and others in the area now have a variety of new connectivity options as well as the ability to improve fault tolerance, load balancing, congestion management and transit of next-generation IPv6 traffic. Hurricane Electric, the world’s leading IPv6-native Internet backbone, has announced that it has added a new point of presence (PoP) in Nairobi at the East Africa Data Centre. This is Hurricane Electric’s first PoP in Kenya and third in Africa. The East Africa Data Centre is one of the most connected facilities in the region and boasts long distance fibre routes to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Somalia. Covering 2,000m 2 across four floors, the carrier- neutral data centre offers N+1 cooling and power for its The Nairobi PoP also provides access to Hurricane Electric’s extensive IPv4 and IPv6 network through 100GE (100 Gigabit Ethernet), 10GE (10 Gigabit Ethernet) and GigE (1 Gigabit Ethernet) ports and as a result, both new and existing customers will be able to experience increased throughput, reduced latency and improved reliability. Mike Leber, President, Hurricane Electric said, “Because the region is so well connected, Nairobi has proven itself to be an important technological hub for Kenya and beyond. Our newest site will allow customers of East Africa Data Centre to tap into the bandwidth and reach of Hurricane Electric’s rich global network and we are grateful for the opportunity to support them.” SITA tech to drive expansion at Ghana’s new international terminal SITA is providing its world-class passenger and baggage processing technology as well as its airport management solutions to Ghana’s new Terminal 3 at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, helping cement the airport’s position as a vital regional hub. Ghana’s largest airport is expanding its capacity to meet significant growth in international passenger traffic, increasing the airport’s capacity to five million passengers a year. The country’s aviation industry has witnessed significant growth over the past decade due to the discovery of petroleum and gas reserves, sustained domestic demand and the growth of the tourism sector. SITA, the global air transport IT provider, has worked closely with both MAPA, the construction company building the new terminal, and Ghana Airports 12 INTELLIGENTCIO Company Limited (GACL), the airport operator, to ensure that the new terminal has the most up to date technology to support the country’s modern airport infrastructure. SITA already provides technology for terminals 1 and 2 at Kotoka International Airport and will ensure that its world-class technology is fully integrated with the existing terminals from day one. SITA is deploying its latest passenger processing technology including common use check in desks and self-service check in kiosks, allowing the airport to maximise its capacity by enabling airlines to cost- effectively share the same infrastructure. The airport will also make use of SITA’s state of the art Baggage Management technology that will assist airlines in tracking bags every step of the way. On the operational side, SITA’s Airport Management Solution will simplify planning and operational control, and facilitate collaborative decision- making, data management and analysis in Terminal 3 and across the entire airport. It will also support revenue management with its billing and reporting functionality. n Image taken from the Terminal 3 SOD cutting at Kotoka International Airport www.intelligentcio.com