- El pasado 13 de octubre, Internet2 y REUNA firmaron un Memorándum de Entendimiento, con el objetivo de reforzar la colaboración y el trabajo conjunto entre estas dos redes académicas. En esta oportunidad los invitamos a leer una columna de opinión escrita por Dave Lambert, CEO de Internet2, acerca de esta alianza estratégica, que potenciará la colaboración entre Estados Unidos y Chile.
The iconic figure of a lone researcher doing late-night experiments in an isolated laboratory has become officially obsolete. Global collaboration among data-intensive researchers is the new standard in today’s world. One of Internet2’s foundational principles is supporting global research and enabling new dimensions of collaboration, and we’re pleased to renew our commitment to partner with the Chilean National Research and Education Network, REUNA.
As Research and Education (R&E) networks, we are entrusted with developing the key mechanisms needed to support the R&E community in the face of challenges and opportunities in globalization and large-scale distributed research. We need to ensure we are capable of providing the bandwidth, tools and contacts that the community needs. Achieving that goal is something that neither REUNA nor Internet2 can do alone; the need and desire for collaboration is written into the very fabric of our existence. This past October in Santiago we renewed and enhanced our Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the goal of collaborating in areas beyond network connectivity, changing the way we support our communities.
What we’re seeing now in the field of research is a very strong push towards collaboration, not only between universities and individual researchers, but in the ownership and operation of large-scale scientific instruments. Research and education networks such as Internet2 and REUNA can be key drivers in providing the network, critical infrastructure, and services needed in support of such vital collaborations. For instance, we all know that Chile hosts US astronomy instruments that are critical to US science, but the breadth of the US-Chile engagement goes far beyond that. The U.S. and Chilean scientific communities have benefitted from millions of dollars in research investments in astronomy, oceanography, seismology and more, and it’s our charge to develop and provide end-to-end deterministic services to support these communities in their initiatives. Our renewed MOU with REUNA is crucial to being able to continue to provide and creatively develop these new and enhanced services.
Strong and effective Research and Education networks are critical to the advancement of science, particularly for big data science projects between countries. With the help of our members, we’ve looked into which into which particular international science collaborations call for largescale networking support, and not surprisingly due to the location of the astronomy instruments, Chile is high on that list. Big data science such as astronomy has a huge impact on the future of R&E and proves the necessity for multi-layer, software-defined networking. One of the key ideas underlined in our MOU is working together with other NRENs in the world to move to a more effective Global Network Architecture in support of global science to be able to provide that level of end-to-end, deterministic services that big data necessitates.
Another area of increasing importance globally – but especially for Internet2 and its members – is the need to build a strong framework of trust and identity to offer access to federated services and support the initiatives in the field of research and education. It is important for us to partner with REUNA to work together in enabling higher level digital trust, identity, and security of member interactions to meet evolving identity services for people, data and things.
Collaborations exist between the US and Chile not only in astronomy, but in such a diversity of fields as sustainable development, energy, wildlife management, environmental law enforcement, glacier monitoring, and agricultural best practices. It is my hope and belief that our partnership will develop to encompass all those areas.
REUNA is a strong partner and I look forward to continuing and deepening our commitment to working together in support of our members and their research and education needs.
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