Research networking enables those working in research and education to collaborate and share information and resources via a series of interconnecting electronic networks. These networks are used to transfer data and to support experiments and applications, which are crucial to academic research and to education.
Using research and education networks, geographically dispersed researchers can communicate with one another across different countries and continents around the world. Without high-speed research networks, many research projects at the forefront of their fields would be simply unable to exist.
Research and education networks have a multi-functional purpose with two primary objectives:
- They act as a high-capacity information and communication infrastructure based on state-of the-art technologies to support the work of researchers.
- They facilitate research in their own right by providing a platform to implement new services and advanced networking technologies through the establishment of experimental test-beds.
Research and education networks have been made possible by the rapid evolution of telecommunications technologies, and particularly data communications. They exist at the forefront of technological developments and are ideal for experimenting with new services before they become available to the general marketplace.
Pan-European research networking is organised in such a way as to provide a pan-European backbone network which connects the national research networks of each European country. More information about the research networking “supply chain” is available from the link alongside.
Pan-European research networking is a major success story of European collaboration. The speed of the fastest links in pan-European networks has increased by an incredible 5,000 times over ten years, and the number of countries connected in that time has more than doubled.