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Building on the tremendous success of the last ten years in
generalizing and adapting research Internet technology to academic needs, the university community has joined together with government and industry partners to accelerate the next stage of Internet
development in academia. The Internet2 project, as it is known, is bringing focus, energy and resources to the development of a new family of advanced applications to meet emerging academic
requirements in research, teaching and learning. Internet 2 addresses major challenges facing the next generation of university networks. The goals are
- Create a national network reserved for research & education use.
First and most importantly, creating and sustaining a leading edge network capability for the national research community. For a number of years beginning in 1987, the network services of
NSFnet were unequaled anywhere else. But the privatization of that network and the frequent congestion of its commercial replacement have deprived many faculty of the network capability needed to
support world class research. This unintended result has had a significant negative impact on the university research community.
- Enable new types of network applications. Second, directing
network development efforts to enable a new generation of applications to fully exploit the capabilities of broadband networks media integration, interactivity, real time collaboration to name a
few. This work is essential if new priorities within higher education for support of national research objectives, distance education, lifelong learning, and related efforts to be fulfilled.
- Transfer the new technology to the public. Third, integrating the
work of Internet2 with ongoing efforts to improve production Internet services for all members of the academic community. A major goal of the project is to rapidly transfer new network services and
applications to all levels of educational use and to the broader Internet community, both nationally and internationally.
The largest part of the Internet2 team is the people at the over 175 member universities who are developing the advanced network applications and engineering that form the foundation of Internet2's mission and goals. UAB joined Internet2 in January 1997. These universities are working with organizations that have joined the Internet2 effort as corporate partners and affiliate members. You can learn more about the national Internet 2 organization here.
Any UAB person interested in I2 may request access to the Internet2 MEMBERS ONLY area of the national I2 web site
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