The objectives of APAN are • to coordinate and promote network technology developments and advances in network-based applications and services across the Asia-Pacific region; • to provide a forum for user communities to come together with network engineers to help promote and exploit opportunities to enhance research and education in disciplines that are relevant to the member economies; • to hold meetings, workshops and conferences relating to network technology, the development of advanced communication services, and the exploitation of these, resulting in compelling new applications; • to arrange and organize education and training workshops, and to operate a fellowship programme to support and develop the next generation of network engineers and network leaders in the Asia-Pacific region; • to work closely with relevant organizations, institutions, groups and individuals around the world to further enhance the adoption of and research into advanced network applications and technologies; • together with peer organizations in North and South America, Europe and Africa, coordinate the building of global infrastructure that will transform the way that education and research is undertaken, leading to improvements in societal benefit. Full membership of APAN is open to
NRENs (one per country or economy). Non-voting membership is available for persons, organisations or corporations that have common interests in the objectives of APAN. Similar organisations elsewhere in the world include
GÉANT,
UbuntuNet Alliance, WACREN (West and Central African Research and Education Network), ASREN (Arab States Research and Education Network), and
CLARA (Cooperación Latino Americana de Redes Avanzadas). ==History==