About Internet2
Want to know who Internet2 is, what we do, and why we do it? Read on: Internet2 is an advanced networking consortium led by the research and education community. An exceptional partnership spanning U.S. and international institutions who are leaders in the worlds of research, academia, industry and government, the Internet2 community is developing breakthrough network technologies that support the most exacting applications of today—and spark the most essential innovations of tomorrow.
Led by its members and focused on their current and future networking needs since 1996, Internet2 blends its unsurpassed human, IP and optical networks to develop and deploy revolutionary Internet technologies. Activating the same partnerships that produced today's Internet, our community is actively promoting the kinds of collaboration and innovation that can have—and has already had—a fundamental impact on the future of the Internet, and its fast-growing world of users.
Learn more about Internet2's first decade with our interactive timeline. (And come back this fall to catch up on the most recent five.)
Who We Are
Internet2 is a not-for-profit advanced networking consortium comprising (as of June, 2011) 221 U.S. universities, in cooperation with 45 leading corporations, 66 government agencies, laboratories and other institutions of higher learning, 35 regional and state research and education networks and more than 100 national research and education networking organizations representing over 50 countries.
Our organization is governed by an executive Board of Trustees and strategic councils consisting of leaders who represent our broad membership.
What We Do
Internet2 members leverage our high-performance network, enabling services and worldwide partnerships to support and enhance their educational, research and community service missions.
Beyond providing network capacity, Internet2 actively engages our community in the development of important new technologies including middleware, security, network research and performance measurement capabilities which are critical to the forward progress Internet applications.
Why We Do It
We've only begun to discover the potential of Internet technology and its importance to the work of the research and education community, commerce and business, healthcare and science, the arts and humanities, and beyond. Our members believe that networking capabilities should be shared as freely as possible across disciplinary limits, political boundaries and economic divisions.
Throughout its first 15 years, the Internet2 community has served a unique role among networking organizations, pioneering the use of advanced network applications and technologies, and facilitating their development—from idea, to archetype, to the commercial Internet.
