80 likes | 200 Views
On the question of the future of state and regional networks serving the research, education and related communities. Jim Williams, LEARN. You cannot step twice into the same river; for other waters are continually flowing in. — Heraclitus of Ephesus. Some recent examples. CarterPhone – 1968
E N D
On the question of the future of state and regional networks serving the research, education and related communities Jim Williams, LEARN
You cannot step twice into the same river; for other waters are continually flowing in. — Heraclitus of Ephesus
Some recent examples • CarterPhone – 1968 • Divestiture – 1984 • Packet switching may change the way we do telecommunications – Jim Williams, inspired by Ronald Reagan, circa 1985 • "There is no one in charge, there are no leaders, there are no rules," he said. "We're just here to say, 'It's our Internet, and stop messing with it.‘ Kyle – at a scientology protest, 2/10/08 Austin, Tejas • “The US is behind by almost every measure” - John Windhausen, Jr. 2/10/08 Tempe, AZ
Change and regional network milestones • Gathering around an idea - TCP/IP • dARPAnet > NSFnet • Northwestnet/BARnet/PrepNet > Verio • Others morphed (NyserNet, Merit) • A few just disappeared or were aborted • MOREnet – learning from early examples • The great fiber adventure
Focused energy / passion • Strong organizational management, structure and controls • Refocused goals • Clear Paths • Committed Participants Growth Phase Organizational Maturity / Growth Fading Phase Startup Phase • ‘Broad’ goals / “Fuzzy’ paths • Strong energy / passion • Minimal Structure / Controls • Loosely organized • Participants “get on the bandwagon” • Fading energy / passion • No structure to hang on • Loss of focus on goals Time http://www.morantechnology.com
Think on these things • Who do we serve and who else could do it? • What do we provide and who else provides it? • How can we leverage what we have to offer a unique suite of services? • Are we just trying to preserve organizations, or do we have a higher Purpose? • “The best way to predict the future is to keep inventing it” – from my Internet2 t-shirt
What to do? • If you don’t change, expect change • Go commercial? • Move up/down the stack? • Champion broadening broadband • Expand public sector service • Actively participate/LEAD in next gen net (GENI, IPv6 etc) • Don’t just duplicate what the private sector does better
Humans process threats and avoid risk. • Change is not necessarily bad – e.g. Tyrannosaurus rex • The technologies we advocate may be short lived. • Gutenberg Revolution (1450 – present) • Flawn Academic Center (aka UGL) (1963 – 2006) • The institutions we serve will last longer then we do. • The US will not in the foreseeable future regain its network technology leadership position. • I enjoyed growing up in a country with the highest standard of living – my granddaughter has more options. • Governance structures seem periodic. • The 3 level architecture seems persistent