It will help establish the Telkom/Cisco CoE as a regional and national ICT innovation centre with the capability to

1. develop new tools and methods in key information and communication technologies some of which have the potential for commercialisation,

2. train postgraduate students

3. facilitate technology transfer to industry, and

4. enhance quality of life

With the number and expertise of academic staff members involved in the CoE and the rapidly growing number of postgraduate students that are attracted to these areas, the CoE is very well-positioned to assume a leadership role in the these key information and communication technologies, both regionally, nationally and internationally.

All research and development projects that will be pursued for the

duration of this project :

1. are of high science and technology quality and have the potential to make significant contributions toward improving our industry partners' competitive edge,

2. focus on developing innovation which will be transferred into a process or product,

3. lead to the development of software prototypes which demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, and

4. involve students at the Honours, MSc and PhD levels.