Tag Archives: Quilt

The Quilt returns to La Jolla in February

We kick off our 20th anniversary this year by heading back to California for our annual 2020 Winter Member Meeting on Feb. 5-7 in La Jolla.


The Quilt begins this year’s 20th anniversary in February by heading back to one of our favorite places for our annual Winter Member Meeting in La Jolla. We are looking forward to this year’s in-person gathering of our national Quilt community and stakeholders to collectively advance networking and cyberinfrastructure for research and education. We also are excited that Internet2 is collocating its Regional Principals Meeting with us this year

We have many exciting conversations and topics planned for the upcoming event with plenty of time to network with your colleagues from across the country throughout the course of the program. You can read a few of the highlighted areas below as well as view the full 2020 Agenda here.

Highlights & Opportunities

This year’s event kicks off with the NOAA N-Wave and RON Partner Breakfast followed by in-person meetings for our Quilt working groups as well as annual CEO Round Table and quarterly meeting of The Quilt Board of Directors. We’ll wrap up the day with a networking reception hosted by Ciena.

Our first full day together will include plenary talks and panel discussions covering a variety of topics including the Tribal Digital Village Network R&E Partnership, updates on National Science Foundation’s CISE and Campus Cyberinfrastructure Program investments, examining a case study in REN and community college partnerships in Arizona, and how to successfully build a security services portfolio for R&E Networking Communities. In the afternoon, our program focuses in on smaller group discussions on topics of importance to our members such as EPOC deep dive outcomes and researcher engagement, network automation and telemetry, telecom policy discussions, and helpful discussions on fiber facilities, bridging the rural digital divide, connecting community anchor institutions, and more.

On our final day, a confluence of our Quilt Working Groups will discuss network security solutions and services, eSports programs, regional network roles in community preparedness, and MANRS compliance.

Sponsors

Please join us in thanking our industry supporters for helping make this year’s event possible: AWS, Carahsoft, Ciena, Juniper Networks, Pier Group, and Red Hat.

Questions?

If you need further information about this year’s meeting, please contact Jennifer Griffin.

Social Media

Be sure to follow us @TweettheQuilt and participate on social media using #QuiltinSoCal.

The Quilt offers ideas for new federal e-Connectivity pilot

The Quilt is pleased to offer recommendations for a new USDA program created to expand rural broadband in underserved rural and tribal areas throughout the United States.

A new rural broadband program funded within the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 now authorizes the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to distribute $600 million through the “e-Connectivity” pilot that targets support in the form of grants and loans.

In July, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue invited comments on the implementation of the e-Connectivity Pilot Program, and The Quilt responded on behalf of R&E networks across the country.

According to a 2018 report by the FCC, approximately 19 million rural American households do not have reliable, affordable, high-speed internet access. Without e-connectivity, the report noted, rural Americans cannot reach their full productivity in the workplace, receive the best education, nor benefit from the highest quality of health care.

USDA is developing this pilot to catalyze private investment and bring broadband to unserved rural areas of the country. The new program provides a unique opportunity to develop modern methods to leverage federal funds that increase private investment in broadband services for as many rural American homes, businesses, farms, schools, and health care facilities as possible.

There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to solutions to bridge the broadband gap in
underserved areas. The Quilt has offered the following recommendations:

  • R&E networks play a vital and expansive role in their respective broadband landscapes.
  • RUS should prioritize e-Connectivity Pilot Applications that include connectivity to Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs) and tribal lands.
  • The e-Connectivity Pilot should consider the broadband needs of communities and regions, not just census blocks.
  • The e-Connectivity Pilot should fund middle-mile infrastructure where necessary to deliver sufficient broadband access to residences and CAIs.

The program should measure broadband access, affordability, and performance (noting a recent submission to the NTIA on how to improve the quality and accuracy of broadband availability data by one of our member networks, Merit, filed jointly with The Quello Center at Michigan State University). Please see our previous blogpost on this official submission.

DOWNLOAD THE QUILT’S FULL SUBMISSION TO USDA RUS.

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. Gaining expert insight on this pilot program will give the USDA all the information they need to make the most effective use of these new and innovative funds.

Submissions and comments were due to the USDA by Sept. 10, 2018.

Quilt offers ESnet Science Engagement Workshop at #WMM17

The Quilt will be returning to the La Jolla Shores Hotel and La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in California on Feb. 7-9 for its Winter Member meeting. Among the many exciting conversations and topics of interest that week will be the ESnet Science Engagement Workshop for Regional Networks on Thursday, Feb. 9 (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) inside the La Jolla Room at the La Jolla Shores Hotel (separate registration required).

The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) provides network connectivity and services for DoE/SC Labs to communicate with science collaborators around the world. To support this mission, ESnet conducts regular reviews of network requirements to determine the current and future science communication and collaboration needs for numerous communities. The purpose of these reviews is to accurately characterize the near-term, medium-term and long-term network requirements of the science being performed. This approach brings about a network-centric understanding of the science process used by the researchers and scientists, without asking technical questions directly, and derives network requirements from that understanding.

The goal of this interactive workshop outlines a process that can be adopted by members of the R&E networking community to advance the mission of science engagement and fully realize the investments made in networking and personnel by agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science and the National Science Foundation.

Presenting Team

  • Jason Zurawski, Science Engagement Engineer, ESnet (lead)
  • Kevin Thompson, Program Director, National Science Foundation
  • Steve Diggs, Data Curation/Cyberinfrastructure, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
  • Jennifer Schopf, Director of International Networking, Indiana University

Topics

The topics of this workshop focus on the intersection of research and technology, in particular the use of high-speed networks. Specifically, the purpose of science engagement; overview of an outline for a case study approach to gather scientific requirements (documentation, meeting preparation); and a live example of how to conduct an in-person review to characterize needs with a visiting scientific group. View the Draft Agenda.

Who Should Attend?

Regular participants in The Quilt and the cyberinfrastructure engineering community are encouraged to attend, participate, and help define a strategy to encourage growth of scientific understanding and support.

Limited space is available. Please contact Jennifer Griffin if you have any additional questions!

Follow all conversations on social media during the Winter Member Meeting using #WMM17.

The Quilt converges in SoCal to kick off 2017

The Quilt will be returning to the La Jolla Shores Hotel and La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in California on Feb. 7-9 for its 2017 Winter Member Meeting.

Registration & Overview

If you have not yet registered, online registration is available. Click here.

Two hotel choices are offered – The La Jolla Shores Hotel and The La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. These properties are adjoining properties and are a short walk between one another. The main Quilt Member Program will be held in the La Sala room at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.

We are looking forward to the many exciting conversations and topics of interest this year. View the agenda. We also have provided time between sessions for working lunch meetings and other networking opportunities.

Highlights & Opportunities

  • Networking CEO Round Table – closed meeting (Tuesday, Feb. 7 – 8 a.m.)
  • Member Beach Event by Quilt CIS Program Authorized Providers (Tuesday, Feb. 7 – 5:30 p.m.)
  • VMware Hosted Informational Breakfast (Wednesday, Feb. 8 – 7 a.m.)
  • CENIC/Scripps Institute program at Calit2/UCSD (Wednesday, Feb. 8 – 2:30 p.m.)
  • Member Reception at Birch Aquarium hosted by CENIC (Wednesday, Feb. 8 – 5:30 p.m.)
  • NOAA N-Wave and RON Partner Breakfast (Thursday, Feb. 9 – 7 a.m.)
  • Trifecta – Combined Working Group Meeting (Thursday, Feb. 9 – 8 a.m.)
  • ESnet Science Engagement Workshop (Thursday, Feb. 9 – 9 a.m.) – *registration required

The Trifecta – Combined Working Group Meeting

During the Quilt Fall Member Meeting a couple of independent conversations happened around getting a few working groups in the same room since we all have a stake in each other’s best practices. We have scheduled that opportunity on Thursday, Feb. 9 from 8 a.m. to noon.

Three of The Quilt’s working groups: Financial Focus Group, Communications and Outreach, and Services, will be coming together to discuss areas of common and interdependent interest and tap into the wider group experience and expertise. This is an opportunity for members of these working groups and other Quilt member staff to exchange experiences and ideas on process, strategies, financial exercises, and key decision making approaches that can ultimately be developed and replicated within The Quilt R&E networking community.

Participants are encouraged to participate and help define a strategy that can be used to leverage programs and services across our community. Joe Sawasky, President and CEO of Merit Network, also will be presenting on the Merit Digital Collaboration Tool: Merit Commons.

Questions?

Please contact Jennifer Griffin if you have any questions at this year’s Winter Member Meeting.

Social Media

Follow all conversations on social media using #WMM17.

 

Happy Holidays from The Quilt

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank our fantastic community for your support and contributions over the last year.  Working together, our collective efforts advanced networking for research and education across the country.  We are excited about continuing our work together in 2016.

We look forward to seeing many of you in February at our Winter Meeting in La Jolla.

Again, thank you for what you do and your support. Happy Holidays to you and yours from The Quilt.

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 HotchkissDavid 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.

Mark LukerDr. 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.

The Quilt expands membership to include Networkmaine

We are pleased to welcome Networkmaine as new member of The Quilt this past month.

Networkmaine

Networkmaine was established in 2009 within the University of Maine System to help shape the future of Maine’s research and education network, MaineREN. The organization operates through a coordinating council which is comprised of the University of Maine System, the Maine Department of Education, the Maine State Library, and the Maine Office of Information Technology.

The primary focus of Networkmaine is the design and operation of MaineREN and services developed to support education, research, public service, government and economic development. In addition to serving higher-education and research, Networkmaine also provides schools and libraries in the state with Internet connectivity at little or no cost through the Maine School and Library Network project, or MSLN project. More than 98 percent of Maine’s K-12 schools and libraries participate in MSLN. Last year, Networkmaine also began operating Wi-Fi networks at 240 middle schools and high schools as part of the Maine Department of Education’s 1:1 computing initiative.

MaineREN is more than 1,500 miles of optical fiber extending from Fort Kent, Maine to Cambridge and from Calais to Bethel. The network serves nearly 200,000 students and more than 1,000 schools and libraries throughout the entire state on a daily basis. While the primary service over MaineREN is a common Layer-3 network, Networkmaine also provides Layer 1 and Layer 2 transport services, videoconferencing services, basic e-mail and web hosting services, and managed Wi-Fi services.

“We have participated in Quilt meetings for the past few years as members of the Northern Crossroads and have found the information/knowledge sharing invaluable,” said Networkmaine Executive Director Jeff Letourneau. “We feel it is time that Networkmaine become more actively involved in supporting and participating in this community by becoming a Quilt member.”

Looking forward, Networkmaine is currently working on interconnecting three northern New England states with each other and with Internet2 in Albany, N.Y. This initiative is being done in collaboration with UNH, Dartmouth College, and UVM. They also are working to establish a pair of 10G paths for CANARIE down the coast of Maine to Cambridge which they can leverage as redundant path for the Maritime Provinces and perhaps an additional peering between CANARIE and Internet2.

We continue to see great excitement in R&E networking in New England, and we’re happy to have Networkmaine join our Quilt community.

G’day mates, Australia’s VERNet joins The Quilt

The Quilt is pleased to introduce new affiliate member VERNet as we expand our membership beyond North America.

VERNet designs, builds, operates and manages a network in Victoria, Australia that enables educators, researchers and students to exchange ideas and communicate faster. The network is the Victorian Education and Research Network (VERN) and is the preferred supplier of high-bandwidth connectivity to the research and education sector in Victoria providing customers with leading-edge technology and services at affordable rates.

Establishedvernet in 2004, VERNet provides Layer 1, 2 and 3 services to nine universities and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) This network is fiber-based and spans more than 2,000 kilometers providing more than 231 services to universities, CSIRO and other research organisations including 26 hospitals from 1Gbps to 100Gbps.

The company is a licensed telecommunications carrier with all members also serviced by the national carrier AARNet. Members procure Layer 1, 2 or 3 from VERNet and then a range of higher-layer services from the national carrier such as commodity internet, videoconferencing, NET+ cloud services, and Eduroam. The company also has a unique, dedicated high-speed research network up to 10Gbps, connecting six Victorian research precincts.

VERNet CEO Roger Tanton explained that VERNet pursued affiliation with The Quilt because of its vibrant involvement and volunteer contributions of its members, and because researchers in Victoria would like to collaborate more with researchers in North America and share data across a wide range of disciplines.

“I was fortunate enough to attend the Quilt Fall 2013 Conference and would be very pleased if VERNet staff could serve on technical, administrative and financial committees or as resources for The Quilt,” he noted. “We have found that RNOs across the world tend to use the same vendors, similar business and even corporate governance models, and the company would like to be a part of this collegiate community and assist where possible.”

The research and education sector in Australia is serviced by the national carrier (AARNet) and two incorporated regional carriers, VERNet in the state of Victoria, and SABRENet in South Australia.

“We are thrilled to have our first affiliate member on another continent,” said Quilt President and CEO Jen Leasure. “This is great way for us to grow our R&E network collaborations and for VERNet to benchmark its network operations with other regional networks located in North America.”