Internet2 Members are a part of a diverse membership community that continues to grow. In the first 31 days of 2008, our community welcomed new University Members Pepperdine University, American University, and University of Texas at San Antonio as well as new Corporate Member FireEye. Within this broad community, Internet2 strives to provide valuable opportunities for participation, information sharing, learning, and collaboration.
The Internet2 Network and InCommon provide capabilities uniquely tailored for the R&E community. Existing high-performance IP networking will be augmented in 2008 with the emerging Internet2 Dynamic Circuit (DC) Network and Commercial Peering (CP) services. InCommon’s growing membership provides additional opportunities for streamlining user access to online resources. Continuing development of software tools such as Grouper, Signet, and perfSONAR will help Internet2 members leverage their own cyberinfrastructure investments.
Internet2 Member Meetings provide unique opportunities for representatives across the complete spectrum of the community to meet in person to highlight accomplishments, share ideas, and find new collaborators. These meetings typically attract over 700 attendees, and feature track sessions, demonstrations, and side meetings that span disciplinary and institutional boundaries. In 2008, the Internet2 Spring Member Meeting will be held April 21-23 in Arlington, Virginia, and the Fall Member Meeting will be held October 13-16 in New Orleans, Louisiana, hosted by Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI). Please mark these dates on your calendar and look for email notifications of calls for participation and registration. The program committee actively seeks track sessions that provide new perspectives on a wide variety of topics related to the development, deployment, and use of advanced networking. If you are interested in helping to shape the program for these meetings, please consider Program Committee membership.
Internet2 Hands-on Workshops provide an opportunity to build, debug, and experiment with advanced technologies under the guidance of experts with extensive theoretical and operational experience. These workshops offer knowledge and resources that are unique to the Internet2 community because instructors include both Internet2 staff and experts from Internet2 member institutions. In 2008, several Internet2 Hands-on Workshops will be held in conjunction with other events such as Joint Techs and Member Meetings. The 2008 Joint Techs meetings are scheduled for January 20-24 in Honolulu, Hawaii and July 20-23 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Smaller workshops covering topics such as dynamic circuit networking, network performance, and DVTS are held throughout the year. Please see events.internet2.edu for the most current schedule.
Since 2001, Internet2 has been partnering with EDUCAUSE with support from the National Science Foundation to offer Campus Architectural Middleware Planning meetings (CAMPS). This annual series of workshops focus on providing practical community guidance and campus case studies on deploying and supporting federated and enterprise identity and access management infrastructures. Upcoming topics in 2008 include CAMP: Bridging Security and Identity Management on February 13-15 in Tempe Arizona and CAMP Shibboleth 2.0: Hands-on Technical Workshop on May 13-15 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Please see www.educause.edu/camp for the most current schedule.
Opportunities to support Internet2 events extend beyond the program. Sponsoring or hosting an Internet2 workshop or meeting raises an organization's visibility within the research and higher education community, provides outreach to technology decision makers, and showcases engagement and leadership in advanced networking. Internet2 meetings, hands-on workshops, and other events are scheduled throughout the year and range in size from under a dozen to several hundred participants.
Participation in Internet2 Working Groups and Special Interest Groups provides members an opportunity to engage in specific technical or discipline issues related to advanced networking, and supports member collaboration toward actively solving common problems, addressing networking challenges, or exploring and developing new technologies and methodologies. Covering topics that range from network performance to high-energy physics to archaeology, these groups explore their common ground to share ideas and innovations, and to discuss the state-of-the-art in their fields. New groups are formed as community interests emerge; in this way, Internet2 members continually direct the dialogue about what is important in advanced networking.
In the coming year, there are two special opportunities for members to engage in shaping the direction of Internet2. First, nominations and elections for the Internet2 Board of Trustees will take place during the first quarter of 2008. Internet2 Governance consists of representatives from our member organizations, including university presidents and CIOs, as well as leaders from industry and research. The Board of Trustees provides strategic direction, leadership and oversight.
Second, the Internet2 community will be actively engaged in a strategic planning process during 2008. At the recommendation of the chairs and vice chairs of the new Internet2 Advisory Councils, the Internet2 Board of Trustees created a Strategic Planning Committee. The process will be as inclusive of the broader community as possible, with input from Internet2 members playing a critical role in shaping the strategic priorities of Internet2 going forward. The committee expects to share a draft strategic plan at the Spring 2008 Internet2 Member Meeting.
2008 will be a pivotal year for Internet2 and we look forward to your continued participation and engagement across our advanced networking community.