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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
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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