By Irene Best Nyapendi
Rev. Assoc. Prof. John Mulindwa Kitayimbwa, has been appointed Chairperson of the Research and Education Network Uganda (RENU). This happened during the recent Board of Directors strategic planning retreat, where a new era was ushered in for RENU.
RENU establishes collaboration among Uganda’s research and education institutions for knowledge creation, sharing, and utilization, through the provision of advanced networking and other advanced technical services.
According to Kitayimbwa, RENU was established to address through it the provision of reliable and affordable connectivity of research and education institutions in Uganda, which is being achieved.
The connectivity through RENU has afforded member institutions access to vast information and resources, facilitated communication and collaboration, enabled use of online education and research tools, allowed sharing of education and research infrastructure across Ugandan institutions, and facilitated easier dissemination of education materials and research findings,”Assoc. Prof. Kitayimbwa
He adds that RENU has surely become the engine that is helping many research and education institutions achieve the connectivity that they need at an affordable rate.
“RENU now offers a broad range of services to research and education such as Learning Management System, web conferencing, eduroam, cloud hosting, and identity federation among others,” Kitayimbwa said.
Kitayimbwa in a special way appreciates Prof. Stephen Noll and other previous chairpersons explaining that it’s on their shoulders he is now to stand. He replaces Eng. Dr. Dorothy Okello whose service ended in April of this year.
He has served on RENU the Board of Directors, first as a member, then as the Deputy Chairperson, as Chairperson of RENU’s Finance, Administration and Human Resource Committee and now as the Chairperson Board of Directors.
Kitayimbwa is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Academic Affairs at Uganda Christian University (UCU). He is also a priest within the Church Of Uganda.
He is a highly qualified Ugandan PhD Fellow in Computational Biology at UCU and an astute educationist, with a track record of raising $8 million in research funding from many diverse, international academic sources.
Prof. Janice Busingye the appointed Deputy Chairperson, congratulates Kitayimbwa for taking upon such a crucial responsibility. According to her, joining RENU is an opportunity to learn, and be part of the organization’s growth.
RENU is Uganda’s National Research and Education Network. It is a member–based organization, founded in 2006 and incorporated in 2008 as a non-profit organization and company limited by guarantee, to uplift the quality of education of research in the country, through the provision of reliable and affordable connectivity and other related ICT solutions tailored for education and research.
