Development of an Advanced Network for New Zealand

Development of an Advanced Network for New Zealand

Charles Jarvie
Implementation Manager
NZ Advanced Network
Ministry of Research, Science and Technology
Wellington

Abstract:

The Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST) is leading a NZ Government project to implement an Advanced Network or national research and education network (NREN) for research and education institutions in New Zealand. It has been over a decade since a comparably positioned network has existed in New Zealand - and that was the university driven precursor to commercialisation of the Internet in New Zealand. Consequently certain areas of research and education have missed out on accessing the high performance telecommunications tools now routinely available to their peer groups internationally. These tools allow practical sharing of large databases, access to high performance computing facilities, cooperative use of computer resources for high performance analysis, and the ability to access and process data from high output sensor systems.

Inevitably the architecture and use of the network raise quite varied expectations (and concerns) - a kind of "the blind man and the elephant" plus "blue skies" mixture. The presentation will outline progress on the project, its governance and funding policy development and will touch on the opportunities to access NRENs in the region to foster collaboration between researchers, educationalists, and students.