Research and Education Networks around the World: the Internet2 View

1. Research and Education Networks around the World: the Internet2 View Douglas E. Van HouwelingPresident and CEO, Internet2dvh@internet2.edu Meeting on Enhancing Research and Education Networking within and to Africa 5 May 2005 Arlington, VA

2. Outline • An overview: Internet2 International Partnerships • The rationale for National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) • NRENs around the world • Africa • Europe and the Middle East • Asia and Oceania • Latin America

3. Internet2 today • US-based membership organization: • 207 regular University members • 66 Corporate members • 42 Affiliate members • Goals • Create a leading edge network capability for the national research community • Enable revolutionary Internet applications • Ensure the rapid transfer of new network services and applications to the broader Internet community • US National Research and Education Network • Internet2 Abilene Backbone Network • 10 Gbps backbone • Over 218 participants • Expanded access: over 30-based state-based education networks across the country • State, regional, metropolitan networks connecting campuses • Move to facilities-based networks • International partnerships: • Close to 50 International partner organizations roughly representing over 75 countries

4. Internet2: Partnerships • Partnerships are key to Internet2 • International partners are of strategic importance to Internet2 • Global collaborations • Science, research, teaching and learning area all increasingly global • Support global collaborations with an equivalent GLOBAL leading edge networking capability – through partners around the world • Interoperability, joint development of new technologies • International Partner Program: • Build effective partnerships in other countries • With organizations of similar goals/objectives and similar constituencies • In support of the Internet2 membership • 50 organizations (International partners) representing over 75 countries

5. Current International Partners Asia-Pacific Americas AAIREP (Australia) APAN (Asia-Pacific) APAN-KR (Korea) CERNET/CSTNET/ NSFCNET (China) JAIRC (Japan) JUCC (Hong Kong) NECTEC/UNINET (Thailand) NG-NZ (New Zealand) SingAREN (Singapore) TANet2 (Taiwan) CANARIE (Canada) CEDIA (Ecuador)CLARA (Latin America & Caribbean) CUDI (Mexico) CNTI (Venezuela) CR2NET (Costa Rica) REUNA (Chile) RETINA (Argentina) RNP (Brazil) SENACYT (Panama) Europe Africa ARNES (Slovenia) BELNET (Belgium) CARNET (Croatia) CESnet (Czech Republic) DANTE (Europe) DFN-Verein (Germany) GIP RENATER (France) GRNET (Greece) HEAnet (Ireland) HUNGARNET (Hungary) INFN-GARR (Italy) NORDUnet (Nordic Countries) POL-34 (Poland) FCCN (Portugal) RedIRIS (Spain) RESTENA (Luxembourg) RIPN (Russia) SANET (Slovakia) Stichting SURF (Netherlands) SWITCH (Switzerland) TERENA (Europe) JISC, UKERNA (United Kingdom) MCIT [EUN/ENSTIN] (Egypt) Related partnerships APRU (Asia/Pacific) IEEAF World Bank Middle East Israel-IUCC (Israel) Qatar Foundation (Qatar)

6. Supporting science user communities and beyond • Research increasingly dependent on access globally to resources, collaborators, data, scientific instruments. • Access to scientific instruments with specific geo-location needs (e.g., optical and radio telescopes) • Unique instruments: impractical or unfeasible for each country to “afford” for its own (e.g., Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, electron microscope in Japan) • Access to/collecting geo-specific data and getting it back for analysis, visualization, sharing, prevention • Environmental, Atmospheric/Oceanographic Studies • Access to the US (resources) and to non-US resources • Teaching and learning • ….and many more 6

7. US International Connectivity • Links between the US and other countries funded through various sources • Outside the US: many of our partners procure and operate links from their country to the US • US-funded: • US NSF provides funding through IRNC (was HPIIS) program for some links • DOE provides some funding for CERN-procured and operated links to US • Internet2 funds used for some connectivity • Donations: IEEAF has made donations from Tyco Telecom available to the R&E networking community • Transit via partner networks • Ex. Reach many countries via GEANT, APAN, CLARA • International exchange points • Around US borders (including north and south borders of US) • Facilitate connectivity with Internet2 infrastructure and other US national networks • More than 60 countries reachable via the Internet2 Abilene backbone network

8. Why R&E Networks? • Provide capabilities beyond commercial ISPs • A question of purpose • Low congestion allows for use of new applications • Provides platform for providing key R&E collaboration-supporting infrastructure • Authentication and authorization • Shared use of computation facilities – i.e., the Grid • Potential to mitigate constraints in non-competitive marketplaces • Aggregate demand of a key user community • Different demand patterns than residential, business users • Collaboration among R&E community • Where much more can be achieved together than separately

9. NRENs in general • The idea of national research (and education) networks continues to be popular • New NRENs in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East – Pakistan, New Zealand, Jordan • Typically one per country • Connect universities • Sometimes also connect government research labs • Other education institutions • Not-for-profit or government/ministry-based • Continuum from commercial Internet access, to reliable-leading-edge (production) to experimental to network research facilitating networks • But focus of most effort on supporting the high-performance, leading-edge needs of high-end science (e.g., UK e-Science, US CyberInfrastructure) and other high-end research, education, clinical needs

10. Our understanding of where NRENs currently exist Current MoU Partners Developing Partnerships Related Efforts in Formation

11. Global research and education network infrastructure • Interconnecting NRENs • Regional (continental-scale) backbone growth • Increasingly regionalized networking • European GEANT, Asian cluster efforts, Latin American redCLARA • Continental backbones providing transit to other regions • Aggregate inter-continental bandwidth now sometimes greater than continental bandwidth • Trend away from US as center of the Internet world • Many initiatives outside the US are engaging and establishing leadership roles in connecting to the world • European – South American connectivity • European – Asian connectivity 11 12/08/03

12. Europe • High-performance R&E networks – pan-European network is GEANT • GEANT2 backbone in midst of finalizing procurement • Several national networks building out owned/leased fiber (NL, CH, PL, CZ, SK) • Wavelength-based international facilities and connections: NetherLight, Czech Rep., NordicLight, UKLight • European-funded connectivity to other regions than Europe • SEEREN (southeastern Europe) • ALICE (Latin America) • TEIN2 (Southeast Asia) • EUMEDCONNECT (Mediterranean) • Algeria, Cyprus, Israel, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey now connected • Trans-Atlantic connectivity between US and Europe • Multiple links

13. Middle East • Qatar Foundation – connectivity for Doha Education City universities and U. Qatar to US (NYC, LA) • Interest in U.A.E., Oman occasionally • Pan Arab Research and Education Network Feasibility Study • Canadian initiative

14. Americas • Latin America • redCLARA regional backbone network up and running • emerging NRENs in Caribbean • North America • Canada’s leading role • NSF-funded WHREN/LILA project • Connectivity between North and South America

15. Asia-Oceania • APAN: Asia-Pacific Advanced Network • Country-owned point2point links contributed to APAN • Most connect to APAN/Tokyo XP • Cluster efforts (Northeast, Southeast, Oceania) to create regional backbones • South Asia • New Pakistan NREN; ERNET and Garuda in India • None connected yet to global R&E net • Central Asia – Virtual Silk project • Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan now connected (via DFN (Germany) • Limited satellite connectivity • Australia • Connectivity to Fiji, Hawaiian Islands, Japan

16. Africa • North Africa – EUMEDCONNECT • Egypt (Ministry of Information and Communications Technology) connecting to US (already transiting via GEANT) • South Africa – TENET tunnel to GEANT/London • NSF-funded study grant (G. Sadowsky, J. Mack, D. Riley) • This Meeting

17. Challenges for NRENs • Many NRENS around the world are still dealing with traditional telecom models and costs • Lack of competition and price-competitive capacity (intra-country) and between countries • Many still largely based on commercial Internet services at low speeds • Regulatory frameworks • Limited global connectivity • Beyond networks, applications, content, sustainability and the human factor: • Country developments are varied; disparities in capabilities and resources • Lack of awareness among policy makers and user communities for long-term strategic support to sustain networking for national S&T and economic development • Lack of funding for R&E and for NRENs

18. Some lessons? • Example: in Latin America, projects like AMPATH and the CLARA initiative have played a role in the way in which LA&C countries communicate among themselves, and with countries outside the region • NRENs regionalized networking can aggregate traffic within the region enabling more effective routing to other parts of the world • NRENs can play a role in supporting national science and linking to international community • Generally, there is improved connectivity that will also support improved and new collaborations with partners in other regions. • NREN role can be: • Strategic role: policy/regulatory, capacity building, and ‘bridging’ • Establishing concrete regional and core frameworks around which to organize national and international support

19. Contacts • Internet2 International • Heather Boyles heather@internet2.edu • Ana Preston apreston@internet2.edu • International.internet2.edu