Exchange brings Brazil and Uganda closer together in research and training in Open RAN

Professionals from the Uganda Academic Network (RENU) will spend six months at RNP to learn about experimentation infrastructures, develop technical skills, and prepare for future open networking initiatives in the African country. 

(Source: RNP) RNP is hosting three RENU professionals for a six-month experience in Brazil: Benon Mugumbya, Nicholas Mugambe, and Charles Kasasira. During this period, they are participating in training with RNP professionals involved in the OpenRAN@Brasil program, with activities related to open and disaggregated mobile network architectures, experimentation environments, automation, orchestration, monitoring, and security. 

This initiative is part of the partnership established between RNP and RENU during TNC 2025. The Memorandum of Understanding between the institutions foresees cooperation on topics such as Open RAN and 5G, programmable networks, cybersecurity, professional training, and the creation of joint experimental environments. 

The exchange is funded by Norec , the Norwegian government agency that supports professional mobility and cooperation between organizations. The proposal was developed jointly by RNP and RENU. 

Knowledge for different realities 

The collaboration began after a presentation of OpenRAN@Brasil at the Internet2 Technology Exchange. Representatives from RENU contacted the RNP team, interested in the possibilities of applying OpenRAN to expand connectivity in Uganda and in the research being developed in Brazil. 

According to Lucas Bondan, R&D coordinator at RNP, the exchange allows for the development of skills through direct contact between professionals and researchers from both countries. “For Uganda, the initiative represents an opportunity to deepen knowledge about open mobile network architectures, experiment with technologies, and follow the Brazilian experience in the development and research of Open RAN. For Brazil, the partnership broadens the international perspective of RNP initiatives and allows us to understand the challenges and opportunities that exist in the African context,” he states.  

Uganda still faces challenges related to coverage in rural areas, available infrastructure, reliable power supply, training of skilled professionals, and the cost of connectivity. In this context, more open and flexible networks can reduce dependence on a single provider and promote the development of solutions tailored to local needs. 

From network operation to experimentation environments.  

Benon Mugumbya is a systems engineer at RENU and works with identity and access management, cloud-native deployments, and artificial intelligence adoption. During the exchange program, he intends to gain practical experience with the architecture, orchestration, and testing environments of OpenRAN@Brasil. 

“My goal is to transform the knowledge gained into concrete implementations in Uganda. With specialized experimentation environments on open networks within RENU, universities, researchers, and local developers will be able to test technologies and create solutions suited to our reality, with less dependence on suppliers,” he explains. 

Nicholas Mugambe works as a backbone network engineer for RENU. His activities include performance monitoring, incident response, root cause analysis, infrastructure maintenance, and supporting the expansion of Uganda's academic network. 

In Brazil, he seeks to understand the entire Open RAN ecosystem, from architecture to deployment, including operation, monitoring, and security. He is also interested in applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to Open RAN networks and in creating testbeds capable of supporting different research projects. 

"What impressed me most was RNP's ability to connect research and practical implementation. The organization creates testing environments, brings universities and industry closer together, supports experimentation, and helps promising ideas develop into solutions for society," he reports. 

Charles Kasasira, a software engineer in the DevOps area at RENU, also highlights the contact with the infrastructures, tools, and methods used by RNP. For him, the experience helps to relate the concepts studied to their application in real networks. 

“The exchange program means not only learning from Brazil, but also sharing the context and challenges of Uganda. From these different experiences, we can identify common problems, conduct joint experiments, and adapt technologies to different environments,” he says. 

Two-way cooperation 

The project includes a second phase, in which Brazilian professionals will travel to Uganda. This continuation will allow the RNP team to directly understand the country's infrastructure and connectivity conditions and work with RENU to apply the knowledge developed during the first phase. 

The expectation is that this stage will support joint experiments, the validation of solutions in different environments, and the identification of new research and development agendas. More than simply replicating in Uganda what was created in Brazil, the goal is to develop responses tailored to each context. 

The three professionals also hope to share their learning with colleagues from RENU, universities, students, and other institutions in the Ugandan academic community through training, documentation, demonstrations, and future projects. 

“We want this exchange to be the foundation of a lasting partnership, with joint research, new technical exchanges, sharing of experiences in testbeds, and open-source tools developed by both teams,” Benon summarizes. 

In addition to professional activities, staying in Brazil includes experiencing the country's culture and daily life. Nicholas was impressed by the combination of mountains, sea, and urban life in Rio de Janeiro. Charles, a fan of Arsenal and KCCA, found in football an interest shared with Brazilians. Benon, in turn, has been taking advantage of his stay to explore the local cuisine, music, and landscapes. 

This interaction is also part of building the partnership. By bringing together professionals with different experiences and realities, the exchange creates bonds that can support new research, experiments, and solutions developed jointly by RNP and RENU. 

In the image, from left to right: Cesar Gama (Service Analyst at the Research, Development and Innovation Directorate), Charles, Benon, Nicholas at the RNP-RJ PoP .