Dear Colleagues,

As of today, over 120 of you have already registered for the 2014 Internet2 Global Summit Executive Track! With your input, an amazing program of sessions, working groups, and networking events has been put together—a program led by you, the leaders of our community. We’ll be providing updates over the next several weeks to help you make the most out of this year’s Executive Track and your whole Global Summit experience. If you haven’t registered yet, visit our registration page today.

For your planning purposes, the Executive Track kicks off on Monday, April 7, with a luncheon (see below), and continues through Tuesday, April 8. Tuesday’s program starts at 8:00 a.m. and concludes with a 5:30 p.m. reception you won't want to miss. We’ll follow up next week with an overview of Tuesday’s Executive Track events. For now, let me share with you what’s on the docket for Monday.

Monday, April 7

Executive Track Kickoff Luncheon (11:45a, Plaza F)

With 100G connectivity, cloud-scale systems, and a changing Academy, what should be at the top of our to-do lists? Brad Wheeler, Indiana University’s Vice President for Information Technology and CIO, will jumpstart the Executive Track by challenging IT leaders to think about when campus strategies of independence, dependence, and interdependence are best. The recipient of the 2013 EDUCAUSE Leadership Award will lead a discussion to assess why each of these matter in a 100G, cloud-scale world. You won't want to miss this exclusive keynote address.

General Session: Global Innovation (1:15p, Plaza Ballroom A/B/C)

Chris Vein, Chief Innovation Officer for Global Technology Development at the World Bank, will use the first of three general sessions to underscore the power of advanced networks to spur innovation and transform emerging regions of the world by enabling valuable research on climate, agriculture, and medical developments to be broadly shared and accessed. Chris will also discuss the impact of a new partnership with the Internet2 community and international partners, and how the innovation it fosters will change the global landscape.

Welcome and “Housekeeping” (3:00p, Plaza F)

Brief welcome and Executive Track program overview and announcements.

Putting It All Together To Support the Cyberinfrastructure
Needs of Researchers, the Campus, and the Region (3:15p, Plaza F)

In what’s bound to be a lively discussion, Elias Eldayrie, CIO, University of Florida, will share how he engaged senior campus leadership, researchers, and IT organization to become the first campus in the U.S. to complete all three Innovation Platform requirements. Joining Elias will be Erik Duemens, whose high-performance computing skills helped engage the research faculty, and Joe Lazor, who will talk about the important role that Florida LambdaRail (FLR) played as regional network partner. Elias’ talk will help set the stage for discussions throughout the meeting about the next phase of our innovation agenda.

Here are some of the questions you might consider during this presentation:

  • How does your campus innovation strategy align with what the University of Florida has accomplished?
  • What is your strategy for engaging your campus leadership, researchers, and staff?
  • Have you engaged your regional network leadership in ideas on how you can collaborate to achieve such gains?

This session will also inform the discussion we are planning for our Tuesday morning session, where we’ll consider together what the next generation of the Innovation Platform might look like.

CIO Forum (CIOs only, 4:45p, Plaza F)

At 4:45 p.m., the CIOs take the floor and rule the roundtable. It’s a unique opportunity for topics of special interest to Internet2 community CIOs to be brought up for open discussion. Have something you'd like to ask your fellow IT leaders? How about a particularly stubborn challenge you’d like to share? Submit your suggestions to .

If you're not a CIO, we suggest that you sit in on the Internet2 NET+ Provider Executive Panel, the International Big Science session, or another session scheduled at that time—or take a closer look at some of our many sponsor stations!

Please watch for another message coming soon, where we’ll unveil Tuesday’s Executive Track program.

If you have not yet registered for the Global Summit, there is still time! Please visit our registration page, or visit the Global Summit homepage for full meeting details. Don’t miss the chance to collaborate!

Best Regards,


Vice President, Community Engagement
Internet2