History

The Internet was born and grown up through the massive efforts of researchers, with the fiscal support of government agencies. Commercial Internet providers now enjoy business success, but it is well known that new technologies are required to meet tomorrow’s demands of the customers.

Researchers are faced with tomorrow’s demands at first and can make efforts to overcome the difficulties. Thus the necessity for high-end Internet for researchers in Asia Pacific region was recognized at the APEC Symposium in Tsukuba, Japan in March 1996. The Asia Pacific Advanced (APAN) was proposed at APII Test-bed Forum in Seoul, Korea in June 1996 to fill this need. Energetic meetings were held with the attendance of the delegates from North America or Europe for one year, and APAN Consortium was formed under a Memorandum of Understanding in Jun 1997 to promote advanced research in networking technologies and the development of high-performance broadband applications

APAN Consortium

APAN (Asia-Pacific Advanced Network ) Consortium, a non-profit international consortium, was established on 3 June 1997. APAN was designed to be a high-performance network for research and development on advanced next-generation applications and services. APAN provided an advanced networking environment for the research and education community in the Asia-Pacific region and promotes global collaboration. Its objectives were:

  1. to coordinate and promote network technology developments and advances in network-based applications and services.
  2. to coordinate the development of an advanced networking environment for research and education communities in the Asia-Pacific region.
  3. to encourage and promote global cooperation to help achieve the above.

In furtherance of the above objectives, the Consortium carried out the following activities, though not necessarily limited to these:

  1. holding meetings, workshops and conferences.
  2. exchanging technical information among its community and beyond.
  3. arranging and organizing education and training workshops.
  4. promoting and encouraging regional connectivity.

In furtherance of the above objectives, the Organization worked closely with interested individuals and organizations to further the cause of adoption and research into advance network applications and technologies.

APAN Ltd

On 8th August 2009, in order to better meet the challenges associated with the changing environment, APAN was incorporated in Hong Kong as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee (also known as an association). The Principal Objects of APAN (APAN’s Charter) is found here.

 

Past APAN Chairs

Prof Kilnam Chon

Sept 1997- July 2004

Prof Shigeki Goto

July 2004- Aug 2007

Prof Jianping Wu

Sept 2007- Aug 2011

Prof Daeyoung Kim

Sept 2011- Aug 2014

Prof Sureswaran Ramadass

Sept 2014- Aug 2015

Prof Simon C. Lin

Sept 2015- Aug 2017

Gerrit Bahlman

Sept 2017- Aug 2019

Prof Jilong Wang

Sept 2019- Aug 2023