    views from the European Commission

1.     views from the European Commission NORDUNET 2000 Conference Research Networks Policies Mário Campolargo DG INFSO F2 "The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission"

2. Contents • Policies for a competitive IS in Europe • Networking Europe for Research • A new generation backbone in Europe • Research - an highly demanding community • A challenging political environment • Revitalizing the strategy for Research Networking • Conclusions

3. Policies for a competitive IS in Europe At European level, coordinated efforts... Commission • Telecom and IS Policies • EU sponsored Research - The Programme IST • Mobilising initiatives such as eEurope or European Research Area European Council • Conclusion of the Feira Summit (e.g.)

4. Europe - a new regulatory framework Price ratios for a 300km 2Mbit/s circuit in USA and Europe, after discounts 18 Price ratio US price=1 Unbundling the local loop 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 EU cross border USA Domestic (Worldcom) EU Domestic (average) Source: Reuters, end of 1998 The main breakthrough in reducing costs came via the liberalisation of European telecoms, effective in most EU countries on 1 January 1998.

5. IST - Networking Europe for Research Commission Parliament Council Operators Service Providers International Carriers NRENs Funding authorities IST Programme Networking Researchers Researching on Networks

6. A new generation backbone in Europe Strategic plan: major steps... • The IST Programme embeds a dual approach to Research Networking (network for researchers / research on networking). • DG INFSO created a single organisational structure to maximize synergies. • An independent “Requirements Advisory Group” was created to define High Level Requirements on the backbone • Targeted Call has been launched

7. A new generation backbone in Europe Strategic plan: major steps... • All the NRENs (except SURFnet) submitted the Géant Network proposal. • Proposal was evaluated and negotiated. • European Commission formally approved today the Géant project, clearing the way for signature of the 80 Meuro contract with the Géant consortium. • Project will be operational on the 1st November.

8. GEANT - responding to the challenge FACTS • Gigabit connectivity: 2.5 Gbit/s initially… tens of Gbit/s within 4 years. • EU-funding: 80 M Euro over 4 years … accounting for 40% of the total cost. • Focus on Guaranteed Quality of Service. • A coherent plan to upgrade connections to Other World Regions. • Geographical coverage: EU Members + Associated Countries (29 Countries). • Access to hundreds of thousands of researchers (on an open and non-discriminatory basis). 29 September - closing date for 1st Géant call for tender

9. Research, a demanding community HIGH energy HUMAN genome PHISICS eoro Met LOGY Researchers rely more and more in the underlying powerful distributed computing and communications infrastructures

10. Research on networking TORRENT 6WINIT ATRIUM • multinational gigabit testbed MOICANE LONG • pan European IPv6 testbeds with mobile access, migration strategies • Integration of access technologies - End-to-end IP services - new business models (ASP in target) Integration and validation of new technologies through testbeds. • Terabit communications • Access technologies

11. Research on networking EUROGRID SEQUIN • virtual libraries DATAGRID • Data and computing grids Integration and validation of new technologies through testbeds. • Virtual Communities • Grid technologies

12. Research on networking GRIDS: • Building the “new web”… enabling users to transparently access computing resource distributed in the network to do what they need and not only retrieve information. • Europe Commission evaluated the importance of this new paradigm and started preparing actions needed to strengthen the European position and to facilitate international cooperation ( culminating in a Workshop 22/23 June in Brussels).

13. Research on networking GRIDS: • Several projects supported by EU IST Programme - 15 M Euro (contracted or in advanced state of negotiations), • developing and implementing large scale data-oriented computational grid, allowing for distributed data-intensive scientific computing models to be demonstrated in multinational tesbted. • Applying grid-computing to domains such as biomolecular simulations, weather prediction, coupled CAE simulations, structural analysis and real- time data processing.

14. A challenging political environment Information Society high political visibility: • eEurope launched in Helsinki - December 99 • European Research Area adopted by Research Council • Special Summit on IS and Employment - Portuguese Presidency • Ministerial Conference on Knowledge Society - April 2000 Lisbon • EU-US Summit - May 2000 Lisbon • eEurope action plan / conclusions of the Feira Summit - June 2000 • Continued focus during the French Presidency

15. eEurope • The eEurope initiative has received political endorsement by the European Council of Ministers • The eEurope is an initiative of President Prodi and Commissioner Liikanen, aiming to allow Europe to exploit its strengths and to overcome the barriers that are still holding back the uptake of digital technologies.

16. eEurope • The eEurope initiative must be seen in its context of profound economic and social mutation - major challenges for European policy and decision makers to modernise the economy – great new opportunities for growth, competition, employment and social cohesion waiting to be seized... ” …. Cheap Internet Access Fast Internet for Research and Students ….

17. eEurope - the action plan launched by EC • Establishment of Europe as a global connectivity leader and evolution • Towards a fully optical backbone with improved capacities in terms of bandwidth and services. • Upgrade of NRENs • Establishment of high speed Internet access and Intranets in campus • Foster World Wide Grid (WWG) technology

18. Santa Maria da Feira Summit conclusions Preparing the transition to a competitive, dynamic and knowledge-based economy • eEurope Action Plan …the European Council endorses the comprehensive eEurope 2002 Action Plan… as a short term priority... unbundling of the local loop. • The creation of a European Research Area … and taking initiatives to interconnect at very high speed national electronic networks for research.

19. Revitalising the strategy for RN • Challenges ahead: • New orders of magnitude for connectivity... • Global connectivity - implementing an European Distributed Access point - establishing synergies with broader policies (EU / Asia / South America / Africa / …) ... • Use of EIB funds (possible combination between loans and grants, e.g. regional funds)… • ...

20. Conclusions • EU is actively promoting Information Society in Europe. • Networking for Research is a important priority for EU policy • With the support of the IST Programme and in the context of the eEurope action plan, a new generation backbone for Research has been launched • In parallel, EU is investing in networking technologies such as GRIDS to support highly demanding user community • New strategic rethinking must now take place.

21. NORDUNET 2000 Conference Mário Campolargo European Commission DG INFSO-F2 200 Rue de la Loi BU-29 1/20 B-1049 Brussels Belgium Phone: +32.2.2963479 Fax: +32.2.2993127 E-mail: Mario.Campolargo@cec.eu.int Web: http://www.cordis.lu/ist/

22. NORDUNET 2000 Conference Thanks for your attention!