Progress of the SERENATE studies

1. Progress of the SERENATE studies Karel Vietsch TERENA Secretary General SERENATE Project Manager GÉANT Policy Committee meeting Schiphol, 28 November 2002

2. SERENATE basics • Strategic study into the evolution of research & education networking in Europe over the next 5-10 years. Looking into the technical, organisational and financial aspects, the market conditions and the regulatory environment. Will provide inputs to the policy-making of the EC, national governments and funding bodies, research institutions and research & education networks. • May 2002 – September 2003 • Project partners: TERENA, DANTE, CTI, Academia Europaea, ESF. With strong involvement of national research & education networks. • Needs active participation from all stakeholders!

3. SERENATE’s 14 work items • Initial Workshop • Transport Infrastructure • Regulatory Situation • Operators Workshop • Infrastructure Forecast • NREN Models • Infrastructure Scenarios • Equipment • User Needs • Overall Strategic Scenarios • Extensions of Research Networks • Geographic Coverage • Final Workshop • Final Report

4. Where are we today? We are about to complete some work itemsand start a few new ones

5. Where are we today?

6. Initial Workshop (1) • took place at La Hulpe from 17-18 September 2002 • 94 participants from: national research & education networks, researchers, government and funding bodies, telecom operators, equipment manufacturers • interesting plenary presentations: • researcher’s, educationalist’s and librarian’s view • policies/politics (EP, EC, ENPG) • the view from the campus (FR, UK) • the continental view (GÉANT, Internet2) • optical networking • problems in real life • breakout discussion sessions on Technology, Economics, Geography, Researchers’ Needs, Other Users’ Needs

7. Initial Workshop (2) • breakout discussion sessions on five questions: • Security inhibits user-to-user connectivity. Discuss. • Is geographically ubiquitous connectivity for European researchers (a) sustainable? (b) extensible? • What should Europe do about connectivity to “neighbouring areas”? • How should the national research & education networks community transfer their experience and/or expertise to other communities? • Can (should) we recommend a minimum/average/acceptable level of service for each European researcher? • plenary session, including preliminary impressions

8. Initial Workshop (3) Some preliminary impressions (1): • From hardware to services: Research networking is evolving fast. It is not so much just getting “hardware connectivity” to the researcher’s desk, but it is increasingly about delivering a set of services needed by researchers (and others). The user wants information access, collaborative tools, “disciplinary Grids”. AAA and Web/Grid services will be part of the delivery mechanism. • Research & education networks are a resource: Lots of expertise. Growing understanding by government of the importance of ICT as a driver for economic prosperity. Growing understanding by governments of the value of their research & education network’s expertise. Increasing requests to capitalise on that expertise.

9. Initial Workshop (4) Some preliminary impressions (2): • Technology: The “optical wave” is a powerful one. We need to find a coherent approach to the “steadily increasing amplitude” of optical networking. • Economics: We need a clear understanding of any regulatory barriers that we could face in deploying pan-European fibre. Does it matter whether you actually own fibre, or lease it on a long-term basis, or maybe even lease wavelengths? • Geography: There is a conflict between two fundamental EU-policy concepts: equal opportunities for researchers wherever they are (ERA)  subsidiarity. • Researcher-User Needs: As much as they can get (and afford). AAA, Grids etc.

10. Initial Workshop (5) Some preliminary impressions (3): • Other Users’ Needs: Could one develop benchmarks for schools, libraries, hospitals etc.? • Policy and funding: Dialogue with governments and politicians (national and European level) needed. www.serenate.org/workshop1.html

11. Where are we today?

12. Regulatory situation • study into the status of regulatory development in: • each of the EU Accession States • Portugal, Greece • the other EU Member States as a whole • carried out by CTI and Antelope Consulting • started in May 2002 (one month before schedule) • study to be completed in November 2002 • report in December 2002 Your help needed!

13. Where are we today?

14. Transport Infrastructure • fact-finding on the transport and infrastructure market – deployment and trends, incl. pricing and availability and market development as well as global connectivity issues • carried out by DANTE and CTI • started in June 2002 • material GÉANT procurements as one of the inputs • confidential interviews with European-level operators • taking into account results of Operators Workshop • study to be completed in November 2002 • report in December 2002

15. Operators Workshop (1) • took place in Amsterdam on 8 November 2002 • organised by TERENA and DANTE • directed at traditional and “alternative” operators: • new pan-European operators • traditional operators that have developed pan-European capabilities • unreconstructured monopolists • regional operators

16. Operators Workshop (2) • discussion sessions on: • technology: “Protocol Wars: Return of the Circuit Switch” • pricing and geography: “How to close the Digital Price Divide in Europe?” • stability of the industry: “Will we see more operators getting into serious problems?” • relations between operators and research networks: “Business relationship or partnership?” www.serenate.org/workshop2.html

17. Where are we today?

18. Equipment • study into the availability and characteristics of equipment for next-generation networks • carried out by DANTE and TERENA • contributions from technical experts from TERENA TF-NGN • started in July 2002 • questionnaire developed; interviews with equipment manufacturers to take place in November and December 2002 • study to be completed in December 2002 • report in January 2003

19. Where are we today?

20. NREN Models • case studies on novel infrastructure acquisition initiatives • analytic report • carried out by CTI • results to be discussed in workshop aimed at NRENs, organised by TERENA on 5 February 2003 in Noordwijkerhout (NL) • started in August 2002 • study to be completed in February 2003 • end-report in March 2003

21. Where are we today?

22. Researchers’ Needs • study of the networking needs of users in the European research community • carried out by Academia Europaea and ESF • started in August 2002 • Web questionnaire developed and large number of researchers invited to respond • draft report to be discussed in workshop in Montpellier from 17-19 January 2003 • study to be completed in February 2003 • end-report in February 2003

23. Workshop for NRENs ! • Noordwijkerhout, 4-5 February 2003 • Expect ~ 40 participants (at least one from each NREN) • Discuss progress and issues, a.o.: • Research user needs • Development of the regulatory situation • Present status of international connectivity • Case studies on “alternative” models • Equipment for very high-speed networking • The new complexity of networking and how to handle it Very important that all NRENs are there!

24. Keep watching this space…. www.serenate.org

25. Issues for discussion here: • Different classes of research-users. Research networking moving from “one size fits all” to more advanced facilities with a smaller footprint. • The new complexity of networking. Different services for different kinds of users introduce a new complexity, even more so because many need end-to-end across multiple domains. • How can the voice of users be heard more clearly? • Can the current model of network procurement and management accommodate these changes? • How will SERENATE influence the Commission’s policies/actions in FP6? • How will the results of SERENATE affect the behaviour of the GÉANT Policy Committee?