Tag Archives: events

Collaboration, gentle tension key to innovation for research and education networks

Leaders of state networks from Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio talked about the role of their organizations in driving innovation recently at MCNC’s annual event in North Carolina.

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Representatives from these Quilt members provided great insight and thought leadership as to the importance of RENs in today’s networking environment during the panel discussion.

A general theme resonated during the discussion – collaboration is the key for RENs to prosper, but some “gentle tension” also creates an environment for us to learn from each other and continue to innovate. “If everything is smooth and easy, then we’re not pushing or innovating enough,” said panel moderator Tracy Futhey, Vice President of Information Technology & CIO at Duke University.

The panel included Wendy Huntoon, Executive Director, Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research (KINBER), Tim Lance, President, New York State Education and Research Network (NYSERNet), and Pankaj Shah, Executive Director, Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet), who joined the conversation via video conference.

Streaming video of the entire discussion is here. (The chapter begins at the 23-minute mark).

Each state and region is different when it comes to networking and high-speed connectivity, so what works in one area of the country or region may not in another area and vice-versa. This is a great discussion on the networking ecosystem seen today for RENs and worth a quick view.

Congratulations to MCNC on another successful annual event, NCREN Community Day 2014.

Fall Member Meeting: Network with networking influencers

Our 2014 Fall Member Meeting is coming up in September, and we have an extraordinary line-up of keynote speakers and guests scheduled to participate.

At the invitation of Quilt member WiscNet, The Quilt will be holding its Fall Member Meeting on Sept. 9-11 at the Monona Terrace on the shores of Lake Monona in Madison, Wisc. Registration closes on Friday, Aug. 22.

We are very excited to see more than 75 networking leaders from around the country attend for some exciting discussions on how R&E networks are uniquely positioned to meet the challenges of today’s infrastructure challenges.

David Hotchkiss, CIO at Medical College of Wisconsin and new member of WiscNet Board of Directors, is one of our keynote participants with a discussion focused on meeting the infrastructure challenges of supporting large-scale medical research and education. Here he plans to share experiences from the largest research institution in eastern Wisconsin and learn from others who may have similar stories and challenges.

Dr. Mark Luker, Associate Director for the National Coordination Office for the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program, also highlights this year’s agenda. The NITRD Program provides a framework in which many federal agencies come together to coordinate their networking and IT research and development efforts. We’re really looking forward to learning how the program is serving as a catalyst for collaboration and innovation for U.S. global leadership in networking, information technology and applications.

We also have break-out sessions scheduled for advanced networking topics, network security, how to best serve niche communities on your network such as K-12 or health care, UEN operations, an updated on Quilt Peer-Review services, a briefing on the Net+ Regional Partner Program, discussions on the Quilt-InCommon Pilots and Regional Network-InCommon Business Models, and much more.

Click here to view the full agenda.

Following the conclusion Fall Member Meeting on Sept. 11, The Quilt is hosting a Leadership Workshop facilitated by Don Welch, President and CEO of Quilt member Merit Network.

It’s going to be exciting event. Thanks again to WiscNet for hosting this year’s meeting.

If you have not registered, please be sure to do so by Aug. 22. Online registration is available and space is limited.

You can follow the conversation now and throughout the meeting using #FMM14 or @TweettheQuilt.

We look forward to seeing you in September!

Networking leaders kick-off summer in Kansas City

Twenty-seven participants representing 22 R&E organizations across the country gathered for the Networking CEO Roundtable held on June 25-26 in Kansas City, Mo.

This summertime tradition provides a forum for executive leadership from R&E networking organizations to gather with peers to share insights, hear other executive perspectives, and have a top-to-top exchange on topics focused on supporting member institutions. While each member of The Quilt is unique, the meeting discussions reinforced our common missions and similarities within our R&E community. These types of member to member collaborations highlight The Quilt’s role as a trusted convener of its members and allows us to collectively advance networking in support of research and education.

Thank you to Quilt member, MOREnet, for hosting our event, and thank you everyone who participated in the rich discussions.

Our next gathering for The Quilt will be our Fall Member Meeting, which will be held Sept. 9-11 at the Monona Terrace on the shores of Lake Monona in Madison, Wisc.

Quilt member communities find opportunity at awesome June events

As we officially head into summer later this month, Quilt members UEN, OSHEAN, and I-Light/Indiana GigaPoP have some great events lined up for their member communities in June.

UEN 2014 Tech Summit (Draper, Utah)

uen The Utah Education Network (UEN) will host UEN 2014 Tech Summit on June 11-12 at The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. This new facility in Draper is nearly 140,000 square feet and features marine, freshwater, and rain forest exhibit galleries, a banquet hall and an education center with classrooms.

UEN is pleased to welcome keynotes Steve Eldredge and Robert Sears for this year’s event. Steve is a senior manager at Adobe Systems and currently serves on BYU’s Marriott School Undergraduate Advisory Board mentoring young entrepreneurs and business students. Robert works with N-Wave, NOAA’s science network. During his talk, he will discuss how this infrastructure supports NOAA science. The agenda also has many more great topics for participants.

This looks to be another awesome event planned for this year and showcased on a fantastic event landing page.

2014 OSHEAN Member Forum (East Greenwich, Rhode Island)

oshean The Ocean State Higher Education Economic Development and Administrative Network will host the 2014 OSHEAN Member Forum on June 13 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the New England Institute of Technology in Rhode Island.

During this year’s forum, OSHEAN and participants will explore a variety of technical topics with presentations from members and experts on Web Filtering, Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Data Storage, Cloud Computing Solutions, VoIP Services and more. Click here to review the agenda, or to review the detailed agenda, click here.

Registration is open until the day of the event. More than 100 people already are planning to attend. Register now.

I-Light and Indiana GigaPOP Members Meeting (Notre Dame, Indiana)

ilight I-Light and the Indiana GigaPoP will host a Members Meeting on June 19 -20 in South Bend at the Morris Inn on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

Topics this year include cloud “infrastructure as a Service” 101 and tour of Amazon Web Services, the I-Light and Internet2 Net+ partnership on delivering cloud services, infrastructure support models and cyber infrastructure for research, identity management, campus WiFi pilots, and a great panel discussion on NSF CC*IIE.

Click here to register for the conference. You also can view the conference agenda and see who is attending this year by clicking here.

Quilt members to host amazing May events

There are some awesome networking events by Quilt members happening all over the country this month. We’ve highlighted three upcoming events in May that may be of interest.

MCRCon 2014 and 2014 Merit Member Conference (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

MeritMemberMeeting2014 The 2014 Merit Member Conference (MMC) on May 21-22 will be at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest.

The MMC is a community gathering on the state of the art in IT for organizations, with a focus both on technology and on the many related policy, financial and social considerations of providing information services. Featured speakers include John C. Dvorak, Technology Author, Columnist and Broadcaster; Johannes M. Bauer, Professor, Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, Michigan State University; and J. Alex Halderman, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan.

View the agenda and/or register to attend.

Prior to the Merit Member Conference, MCRCon 2014 will be on May 20. MCRCon is a cybersecurity conference hosted by the Michigan Cyber Range, which also will be held at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest.

2014 CEN Annual Member Conference (Hartford, Connecticut)

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Last year CEN delivered its first annual conference for its members. Almost 300 participants came out to network with their peers, learn about the future of CEN, and technology trends in schools and libraries. The 2014 CEN Annual Member Conference is expected to be bigger and better on Thursday, May 22, at the Connecticut Convention Center.

Susannah Spellman, Executive Director of U.S. & Canada, Internet 2, will be this year’s keynote speaker.

Registration for this year’s event is open.

Great Plains Network 2014 Annual Meeting (Kansas City, Missouri)

GPN2014

The Annual Meeting of the Great Plains Network and Greater Western Library Alliance brings together knowledge and IT professionals including advanced network and cyberinfrastructure users, faculty members, researchers, librarians, information technology staff, and graduate students from leading universities and higher education networks.

This year’s theme is Surviving the Data Deluge: Computation, Storage, Networks and People with highlights including a new venue at The InterContinental Hotel in Kansas City Plaza; Big Data Summit II – Data: The Heart of Scholarship; the Opening Exhibitor Preview; Gala Poolside Reception; and the expansion of “no-conflict time” with exhibitors.

The full schedule is now available. Click here for more information and to register.

Hot broadband topics highlight SHLB Coalition’s conference

The Schools Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition’s (SHLB) fourth annual conference the first week in May has plenty to offer on issues affecting broadband connectivity and adoption throughout the country, and we are excited that several Quilt members will be representing the R&E community on the agenda.

The annual conference will be held on May 7-9 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. The program features several Quilt members and includes updates on E-Rate reform, ConnectED, the Healthcare Connect Fund, Connect America Fund, and several panels around digital inclusion, white spaces, and municipal broadband.

Quilt President and CEO Jen Leasure will be moderating a panel on E-Rate with the discussion focused on the benefits of capital investment in broadband connections for schools and libraries. Learn more about the presentation. Jamie Huber from Cheboygan-Otsego-Presque Isle Education School District (COPESD) in Indian Hills, Mich. (a member of the Quilt member Merit Network) is on the panel.

Other Quilt members participating include CENIC President and CEO Louis Fox, who is listed as a plenary speaker. John Gillispie from MOREnet will serve on a rural broadband panel along with Jon Chambers of the FCC and others. MOREnet was one of 11 R&E networking organizations that submitted an expression of interest for the FCC’s rural broadband experiments under the Connect America Fund. Finally, MCNC Chief Technology Officer Mark Johnson, Jim Stewart from Utah Education Network, and Ken Barber from KINBER will serve as panelists for a Gigabit Cities panel planned for the second day of the conference.

Several other FCC staffers, representatives of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and Obama Administration officials (Tom Power and Richard Culatta) also are scheduled to present.

This annual conference is a great place to network with Quilt members, representatives from community anchor institutions, industry, and policymakers all in one place. Visit this website to view the entire agenda and register.

The day before the SHLB conference begins, the FCC will be holding an E-Rate Modernization Workshop on May 6 in the Commission Meeting Room (TW-C305).

The E-Rate Modernization Workshop will provide an opportunity for the FCC and E-Rate stakeholders to discuss the challenge of delivering high-speed connectivity to and within schools and libraries and highlight successful strategies. Additional details concerning the workshop agenda and panelists will be forthcoming.

The workshop will be free and open to the public, and also will be streamed live here.

Early May is shaping up to be a key time to address some of the hot broadband issues that are front and center on the national networking agenda.

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