1. Looking into the Crystal Ball of Networking: Future Directions and Visions for Networking Research ICNP 2003 Panel

2. Slides 7 and 8 use material from a presentation by Don Towsley at the NSF Workshop on Fundamental research in Networking: http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~jorg/workshop1/NSF-workshop-talks/DonTowsley.ppt Note

3. Why this panel? • In the last 9 months, numerous workshops were devoted to future directions in networking research • Lets bring together the organizers of some of these workshops to present and discuss the different visions and agendas • What is the state of networking research? • What is its future?

4. What has changed (in the last 10 years)? • Data networking has become ubiquitous • Network research community has grown • Internet boom and bust • Networking research at industry labs is significantly reduced • Structural changes to funding of networking research • … we have grown older by 10 years

5. Three points of view • Pessimist: “The glass is half empty” • Optimist: “The class is half full” • Engineer: “The glass is twice as big as it needs to be”

6. Different views on Networking Research • We’re done! • Infrastructure, once established, tends to change very slowly • Declare success and move on • There was never much to do in the first place • All major communications modes have been explored: packet-switching, circuit-switching, … what else? • It’s out of our hands! • Future of networking does not depend on technologists, but on lawyers, law makers, marketing and sales people

7. overlay networks wireless Internet mobile interplanetary sensornet high performance 10 years Different views on Networking Research • These are exciting times! • Many new research directions in last 10 years

8. Different views on Networking Research It’s just getting interesting • Global network becomes object of study • We see beginning of a network science, as challenging/important as physics, biology, …

9. Four Workshops • DOE Workshop on Ultra High-Speed Transport Protocols and Network Provisions, April 2003 • NSF Workshop on Fundamental Research in Networking, April 2003 • NSF/COST Workshop on Exchanges and Trends in Networking (NeXtworking `03), June 2003 • ACM Sigcomm Workshop on Network Research: Exploration of Dimensions and Scope" (NREDS), August 2003

10. Four Workshops, four panelists • DOE Workshop on Ultra High-Speed Transport Protocols and Network Provisions, April 2003 • Chair: Nageswara Rao (ORNL) • NSF Workshop on Fundamental Research in Networking, April 2003 • Co-organizer:Ness Shroff (Purdue U.) • NSF/COST Workshop on Exchanges and Trends in Networking (NeXtworking `03), June 2003 • Co-chair:Ioannis Stavrakakis (U. of Athens) • ACM Sigcomm Workshop on Network Research: Exploration of Dimensions and Scope" (NREDS), August 2003 • Chair:Karen Sollins (MIT)

11. Questions to Panelists • Workshop Background • What has motivated the workshop? what was the objective? • What was the format and structure? Describe the attendees. • What are the main outcomes of the workshop with respect to the nearterm/longterm future in networking research. • Self-Assessment of network research community • How does the community assess itself and how do networking researchers think about themselves ? • (e.g., scientists vs. engineers) • Is the community growing/saturating/shrinking? Why? • How has networking research changed in the last few years? • Which changes are expected or seen necessary? • What is the role of experimental vs. theory vs. application oriented research? • How will the community develop? • Has the role of academic or industrial networking research changed? • Research Topics • What are the research challenges in networking? • Are there areas that need to be investigated more? • Are there areas that do not benefit a lot from further research?