News for and about the Internet2 community

[Todd Sedmak <>]

Indiana University Chosen to Lead High Performance Research Network Between 
US and China

Bloomington, Ind. –-(Oct. 11, 2011)--The Indiana University GlobalNOC and 
partners will complete a high performance research network link between the 
US and China with a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The 
project will link the China Education and Research Network (CERNET) with 
Internet2 and US research and education networks, allowing researchers and 
educators in both the US and China to more easily collaborate and share 
research data.

“International networks do not currently operate at the levels needed to 
fully support growing collaborative scientific research between the US and 
China,” said Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie. “With more 
than 400 current NSF projects involving China and many new projects planned, 
a high-speed connection between the countries has become very important to 
leading American scientific and medical collaborations which promise 
technical innovations and breakthroughs in healthcare.”

The award is the latest in Indiana University’s series of large-scale 
international networking grants received within the past decade. The IU 
GlobalNOC currently leads international networks such as TransPAC3 to Europe 
and America Connects to Europe (ACE).

"I'm delighted that the National Science Foundation has again chosen IU to 
lead this important international network project," said Brad Wheeler, vice 
president for information technology and CIO at Indiana University.  "For 
over a decade, IU has developed the expertise and relationships to lead at 
these international levels."

An ongoing partnership between IU GlobalNOC, CERNET and Internet2 made this 
project possible. In the last ten years, the partners have worked together on 
a range of efforts to support research and education networking for 
scientific collaboration, including solving access problems caused by China’s 
large, growing population.

“This is, of course, not the first network connection between the US and 
China - but it is the first specifically dedicated to university scientific 
research,” said Jim Williams, director of international networking at the 
Indiana University GlobalNOC. “This will allow university scientists to move 
larger sets of data between the US and China more quickly and easily.”

Internet2, the world’s most advanced network for global scientific research, 
is also a critical partner in the rollout. Internet2 has collaborated with 
more than 50 countries to enable access to its advanced network and 
next-generation networking technologies for US universities and researchers 
working in China.

“Global collaboration among data-intensive researchers is simply the new 
standard in today’s world. One of Internet2’s foundational principles is 
supporting global research and enabling new dimensions of collaboration,” 
said Dave Lambert, Internet2 President and CEO.  “Our current upgrade to the 
Internet2 Network will create the world’s first 100 Gigabit Ethernet 
production network – and is key to the future of supporting global scientific 
research collaboration with China and all of our global partners.”

CERNET is leading implementation of the network and creating the needed 
cyberinfrastructure within China, with financial support from the Chinese 
government.

The network is expected to be operational in late fall or early winter 2011.

Media contact:
Daphne Siefert-Herron
Communication Strategist
Indiana University
 (812)856-1242


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