By
Sean O’Brien - Associate Vice President, NET+, Internet2
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Internet2– NET+ and Other Cloud Program Updates
There’s Action on the Set—and in the Cloud: Movies, MFA, and More
The heat is on for sure. According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, well above average temperatures are expected across almost the entire nation during the month of July. Weather notwithstanding, summer is usually a hot time for the movie making industry as well – both in theaters and behind the scenes. AP News reports that over 40 movies will be opening in 500+ theaters this summer. And many holiday movies are actually being filmed right now in time for release in November or December.
Summer tends to be a busy time for the NET+ Program as well, and there’s no shortage of content to watch as our team works to bring you resources that make it easier for you to implement cloud services.
One key direction we’re taking to stay on the cloud scene – and working on your behalf – is participation in critical community gatherings like TNC. Last month, I had the great pleasure of presenting a lightning talk (begins at 13:29) there on MFA evolution in higher education, representing the great work of Nick Lewis and many others in the Internet2 community.
Another very important way we’re working behind the scenes for you (all year round) is bringing the higher ed and cloud services vendor communities together to tackle tough challenges like data governance. Instructure and Internet2 recently established a Data Governance Advisory Council that will bring together representatives from various education institutions to recommend data retention, security, and governance standards and best practices. We will keep you posted on what’s happening on the data governance scene as the council continues its work.
In the meantime, we’re pleased to highlight some of our “hot picks” for the summer and give you a behind the scenes look at some of our coming attractions. On behalf of the team working to ensure you have the resources you need to remain active and achieve success in the cloud, stay cool and connected with us throughout the summer. We’re here if you need us.
#1 – Just released
Last month, we released two important reports, one examines top issues around research data storage in higher ed, and the other offers insight on the trend towards mandating MFA at research and education institutions. Both resources were developed with community input from the NET+ Cloud Services Technology Architecture Committee (CSTAAC) and the NET+ Duo Service Advisory Board respectively.
We’re excited to continue our series of blog posts profiling Cloud Superheros. Dedicated volunteers enable us to move our work forward and speak with one voice on your behalf. Learn more about the important contributions Doug Streit and Sara Christen, who is this year’s Cloud Superhero Award recipient, have made to the research and education cloud community.
Sara Christen
Doug Streit
#3 – Available on demand
The Higher Education Cloud Forum 2024 was all about content, connection, and continuation. Check out the highlights; recordings and/or slides are available for most sessions. New York University will be hosting the 2025 Cloud Forum from May 20-22, 2025. Planning for CF25 has begun, so if you’d like to get in on the action, email bflynn@internet2.edu.
#4 – Watch the webinar series
CLASS is still in session – virtually! Missed the “What’s Up in the Cloud?” webinar series? Catch up now! Don’t miss out on these insightful discussions on emerging cloud topics. The CLASS Advanced Spring 2024 Cohort hosted a series of webinars, covering key issues for research and higher education. Watch now and learn about:
- Project Eureka & Adaptive Computing at Scale
- Practical Cloud Security on AWS
- Orchestrating Successful AI Initiatives on Campus
- Introduction to Jetstream for Cloud Computing
- CLASS Advanced Final Presentations
For more information about CLASS, please contact class@internet2.edu. To hear about upcoming training opportunities, sign up for the CLASS mailing list.
New and Next
Check out new Internet2 Cloud Scorecard participants:
If there is a cloud service you would like to see listed, please reach out to us with your suggestion(s).
Efforts are underway to bring several new services into the NET+ portfolio, including a third-party risk management service, a large language model gateway service, 1Password, Globus, and more. See what services we are evaluating for the portfolio on the NET+ candidate services wiki page.
Spotlight on NET+ Service Providers
We’re pleased to continue inviting NET+ service providers to share articles, blog posts, webinars, or other content relevant to cloud practitioners in the R&E community. Take a look at the resources they shared this quarter:
- Google Workspace for Education (GWE)– Google recently announced the release of new AI tools for Google Workspace for Education. To add Gemini to your existing NET+ Google Workspace for Education resources, contact your existing Reseller, CDW Amplified for Education at internet2@amplifiedit.com or Burwood at i2google@burwood.com.
- Google also recently announced Google Vids, a collaborative video creation app in Google Workspace for Education that makes it easy to create engaging videos. A version of Vids without generative AI will be released exclusively to students and educators with Google Workspace for Education Plus later this year; the version powered by generative AI will be available with a Gemini for Google Workspace add on.
- Rolling out in the coming days, eSignature will make it easy for educators to draft contracts, request signatures in Docs and PDFs in Drive, and manage contract templates all in one place.
- Instructure – If you’re unable to attend InstructureCon, you can still catch the roadmap highlights! Join chief product officer, Shiren Vijiasingam, for an Instructure Product Roadmap Webinar on August 7 at 2 p.m. ET to explore the latest product updates from Instructure. Get a sneak peek into how new access to insights and generative AI will help you drive impact and student engagement, and how our solutions help you build a safe, impactful, and interoperable edtech ecosystem that supports evidence-based decision-making. Lastly, you’ll learn how Instructure products are adapting to evolving learner needs over the course of their lifelong learning journey. This event is open for all to attend. Register here to reserve your seat.
- Miro – Miro and Google have collaborated and have exciting news for all Jamboard users! Are you ready to take your collaboration to the next level? Join an upcoming webinar with Miro and Google experts where they’ll show you just how easy it is to switch to Miro.You’ll find out why Miro is the perfect replacement for Jamboard, learn how to use Miro and Google Workspace together for top-notch collaboration, and get some great tips for seamless content migration. Register here.
This will be a regular feature in our quarterly newsletter, so be sure to keep an eye out for it!
Keep Up With the Cloud
As always, we welcome your ideas and appreciate your contributions to our cloud programs! Interested in participating in one or more NET+ service evaluations? Or have feedback for other prospective services for the program? Don’t know where to start? Email cloud@internet2.edu.
Catching Up on the Cloud brings you all the latest Internet2 cloud updates. Whether you’re supporting the academic enterprise, research domain, or anything in between, these timely announcements and updates will help you with the best solutions for implementing cloud services at your institution.
About the Author(s)
Sean O’Brien leads Internet2’s NET+ cloud service program working with institutions on the collaborative development, evaluation, and management of cloud services for the research and education community. He has worked in a variety of roles in higher education and the private sector focusing on cloud enablement, institutional research, and project management.