usucansponsor

[James Werle <>]

{Apologies for cross-posting}

 

All,

 

In taking stock of the current state of our US UCAN program and listening to the feedback many of you have so generously provided since I have taken on this new role, we would like to implement a few changes in an effort to simplify our identity and further focus our mission to better leverage the existing strengths of our community.

 

As a first step, in response to input from many of you, we would like to propose that we rename the US UCAN program to the "Internet2 Community Anchor Program."

 

Over the years, we have accumulated several names to describe our work together. Many of you will remember we began as the National Internet2 K20 Initiative in 2001. Simultaneously, the Sponsored Education Group Participant Program (SEGP) was used to describe the mechanism by which state/regional networks connected community anchor institutions to Internet2. In 2011 we shifted to our current moniker, the United States Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN), in response to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant Internet2 received from NTIA.

 

By respectfully retiring the terms "Internet2 K20 Initiative," "SEGP," and "US UCAN" in favor of the simple, all-inclusive title, the "Internet2 Community Anchor Program," we will make an important first step toward eliminating confusion in our community around who we are and what we do. 

 

Nothing will change in terms of how the program is administered. Working with our regional partners, we will continue to focus on advanced networking, trust and identity services, and robust applications and content for the .edu spectrum nationwide.

 

Over the course of the next couple of months, working in partnership with all of you, we will update the Internet2 website to reflect the new title, simplify and strengthen the language we use to describe our collective work together, and create more effective and routinized opportunities for us all to connect and collaborate together. Once these changes have been put into effect, we will make a more formal announcement of the name change to the entire Internet2 community via a press release, social media channels, etc.

 

As always, we invite your thoughts, ideas, questions, and feedback.

 

Best,

James

 

James Werle

Executive Director, US UCAN (proposed Internet2 Community Anchor Program)

Internet2