Welcome note

It is our distinct pleasure and great honor for us to welcome you all on behalf of the HONET 2011 organizers, and especially to welcome the International delegates from USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and SAMENA region (South Asia, Middle East, & North Africa) as well as participants from the host country Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The magnificent and friendly city of Riyadh is a welcoming place for all visitors and will serve as a major junction and convergence point for delegates for ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and Nanotechnology. During the past several years, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has invested lot of resources in building, expanding, and cultivating their higher education and technology sectors. In today´s world ICT, which enables the internet, electronic media, social networks, and communication has permeated all walks of life. The deployment of massive fiber links across the Arabian Peninsula and wireless access nationwide are now connecting the world and enabling the Saudi Arabian Universities and the private sector to be leading partners and collaborators in global research, education, and economic growth. HONET also plays an educational role among NRENs through collaborations with leading teams and researchers from academia and industry. For example, this year´s leading keynote presentations include speakers from FTTH Council, Cisco System International, USA, Attosecond Physics Labs Max Planck Institute, Germany, Center for Optoelectronics & Optical Communications, Charlotte, USA, Edith Cowan University Australia, University of Ottawa, Canada, NUST Islamabad, Pakistan and several other distinguished speakers from around the globe.