1) What are Internet2´s membership categories? There
are four types of membership in Internet2: Regular membership,
Affiliate membership, Corporate membership and Association
membership. Corporate membership is further broken down into
three types: Corporate Partner, Corporate Sponsor, and Corporate
Member. Affiliate membership is also broken down in two categories:
Affiliate members and Afilliate members with Collaboration
Site Status.
2) Who is eligible to apply for each type of membership?
Regular membership is open to institutions of higher education located in the
United States. Affiliate membership is open to not-for-profit organizations that
are operated for research or education purposes (such as research labs and agencies).
All for-profit and not-for-profit organizations are eligible to apply for Corporate
membership. Association Membership is open to non-profit, higher education associations
with national and/or international scope with a strong interest in the mission
and goals of Internet2.
Regular, Affiliate, and Corporate Applicants must be making
a definitive, substantial and continuing commitment to the
development, evolution and use of advanced networking services
and applications in the conduct of research and education.
Association members must demonstrate a strong interest in the
mission and goals of Internet2.
3) Can individuals apply for Internet2 membership?
At this time, Internet2 membership operates on an institutional/organizational
basis and is not open to individuals.
4) What is UCAID's role with Internet2?
The University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development
(UCAID) is the formal organization formed to manage the activities
and programs of Internet2. A Board of Trustees composed primarily
of the Presidents of Internet2 Regular University Members
governs UCAID. It is incorporated as a 501c.3 non-profit organization,
and is the formal entity that collects member dues and fees
and manages expenditures associated with Internet2 projects.
5) What are the requirements that must be met in
order to qualify for Regular membership?
Regular member applicants should commit to the following goals:
(a) establish broadband Internet connectivity on an end-to-end
basis between and among Regular member institutions and other
related development sites; (b) prepare to make use of local
aggregation points known as "gigaPoPs" and make
plans to join and/or form a gigaPoP to achieve access to the
Internet2 interconnect; (c) develop and demonstrate advanced
network-based applications for the purposes of research and/or
education and create a project team within the organization
to support the development of such applications; (d) participate
at the executive level in the overall management of the Internet2
project; (e) contribute necessary financial support to the
above activities and to the central management and administrative
expenses of Internet2.
6) What are the requirements that must be met in
order to qualify for Association membership? Association
member applicants must be comprised of dues-paying members
that are non-profit and higher-ed focused with a strong interest
in the mission and goals of Internet2.
7) What are the requirements that must be met in
order to qualify for Affiliate and Corporate membership?
Affiliate, as well as Corporate Member applicants should be
committed to promoting the development and deployment of advanced
Internet applications and network services in the conduct
of research and education.?
8) What are the financial commitments (costs, dues,
etc.) that Internet2 members are required to make?
Regular members are responsible for $28,500
per year in member dues. In addition, it has been
estimated that expenditures allocated to upgrading campus
infrastructure, connecting to a gigaPoP, and supporting applications
development could run approximately $500,000 per campus,
per year.
Affiliate members are responsible for
$11,500 per year in member dues. Affiliate
members with collaboration site status are responsible for
$28,500 per year in membership dues.
Corporate members with revenues exceeding
$1 billion are responsible for $28,500 per year in
member dues. Corporate members with revenues under $1 billion
are responsible for $11,500 per year in
member dues. All member dues are applied toward the central
management and administrative expenses associated with Internet2.
In addition to annual Corporate member dues, Corporate Sponsors are expected
to contribute goods and services in the amount of $100,000 or more over a three
year period.
Corporate Partners are expected to contribute goods and services in the amount
of $1,000,000 or more over a three year period.
Association members are responsible for $2,600 per year in member dues.
9) What must be submitted in reference to applying
for Regular membership?
Regular Member applicants must submit the following items:
(a) a letter from the institution's Chief Executive Officer,
formally applying for membership and confirming the applicant's
commitment to the mission and goals of Internet2 as well as
the requirements outlined in #5; (b) along with the above
letter, a more detailed (no more than 2 pages) statement of
the applicant's status/progress towards meeting the goals
of end-to-end broadband connectivity, including campus network
upgrades, participation/formation of a gigaPoP, and development
of advanced applications; (c) a completed Internet2 membership
application.
10) What must be submitted in reference to applying
for Affiliate membership?
Affiliate member applicants must submit a completed Internet2
membership application that includes a statement of commitment
to the goals of Internet2.
11) What must be submitted in reference to applying
for Corporate membership?
Corporate Member applicant must submit a completed Internet2
membership application. The application must include a description
of the applicants relationship to research and education,
and its research and development focus and organization.
Corporate Partner and Corporate Sponsor applicants must submit
the following: (a) a project proposal; (b) a brief executive
summary describing the applicants existing partnerships and
contributions to higher education and research networking
and its quantified contribution; (c) a completed Internet2
membership application.
12) What must be submitted in reference to applying
for Association membership? Association member applicants
must submit a complete Internet2 application including specified
contacts information. The complete application must include
a statement and supporting text which demonstrates the association’s
interest in the mission and goals of Internet2. For example, “The
Educause mission of advancing higher ed by promoting the
intelligent use of information technology is directly related
to the work and activities in the Internet2 community”.
13) Are universities abroad eligible to apply for
Internet2 membership?
At this time, we do not extend membership to non-US institutions.
Internet2 does enter into agreements known as Memoranda
of Understanding with non-US networking organizations
that have similar goals with respect to supporting advanced
applications and network services development and use in research
and education. These networking organizations connect many
international higher education and research institutions,
and Internet2 members in the US are currently pursuing collaborative
work with these organizations.
14) As a member, how can my organization get involved
with Internet2?
If you are currently an Internet2 member, there are a variety
of mailing lists to subscribe to, meetings to attend, working
groups to join and other members to contact. For more information,
please go to the members only section.
15) As a non-member of Internet2, how can my organization
get involved?
If your organization is interested in becoming a member,
and you are willing to commit to the goals of Internet2,
please refer the appropriate decision-makers at your organization
to this web site to learn more about the Internet2 project,
goals, and commitments. If your organization is not a member
of Internet2, you may subscribe to our non-member mailing
lists.
16) What is the Abilene Network?
Abilene is a high-performance network developed in partnership
with Qwest Communications, Nortel and Juniper Networks.
An important goal of the Abilene project is to provide
a backbone network for Internet2. Abilene uses high-speed
Sonet facilities and IP-over-Sonet routers, accessible
to gigaPoPs in several dozen locations nationwide, to
support the Internet2 infrastructure. Abilene enables
faculty and staff at Internet2 universities and research
labs to develop advanced network services and applications.
17) How does Abilene relate to Internet2?
Abilene is a backbone network used by the Internet2 community.
Abilene network supports the Internet2 by providing an effective
interconnect among the regional networking aggregation points,
or gigaPoPs, pioneered by Internet2 universities. Abilene's
advanced capabilities help Internet2 members develop and deploy
new applications more quickly and more broadly. Independent
of Abilene, Internet2 working groups are tackling networking
development issues such as Quality of Service and multicasting.
Abilene facilitates this work in support of Internet2 and
its mission.
18) Who can connect to the Abilene network?
Any higher education institution that is an Internet2 member
is eligible to use the Abilene backbone network. Abilene is
a backbone network to interconnect the gigaPoPs created by
the Internet2 and its member institutions. Private and government
organizations focused on research and education which are
collaborating with Internet2 universities can also connect
to Abilene with appropriate authorization from UCAID. All
of Abilene's expenses are recovered through direct charges
to the gigaPoPs and the institutions which it interconnects.
Types of Participants: Primary participants will typically
be research and doctoral degree-granting colleges and universities,
other non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, or
Collaboration Sites of Affiliate and Corporate Members located
in the United States. These organizations are able to commit
and deploy the substantial resources necessary to implement
Internet2 capabilities. In addition to participation by Primary
participants, other educational institutions (including both
non-profit and for-profit K – 20, technical, and trade
schools), museums, art galleries, libraries, hospitals, as
well as other non-educational, non-profit, or for-profit organizations
that require routine collaboration on instructional, clinical,
and/or research projects and services with Primary participants
or with other Sponsored participants may become Sponsored
participants. Those parts of corporations and government agencies
that require routine collaboration on instructional and/or
research projects with Primary participants or with other
Sponsored participants also may become Sponsored participants.
