IREX linked Soviet partners to the BITNET system, a peer of the Internet.

1990 Continued
IREX also increases access to information technology in the region by linking Soviet partners to the American BITNET system, an academic and research computer network connecting approximately 2,500 computers.

IREX encourages scholars to conduct research away from the traditional urban centers. IREX scholars benefit from years of language training in Azeri, Georgian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and Uzbek languages as those republics become increasingly independent.