Participants were asked to identify and discuss the top 2-3 shared challenges that the Internet2 research and education community is facing, strategies to address these challenges, and areas where Internet2 could play a role in those strategies. The in-person events included approximately 130 executive-level community leaders from 50 organizations/institutions representing higher education, research and education networks, and affiliate and industry members. It was professionally facilitated with assistance in note-taking by Internet2 staff who regularly engage with the community. This summary is based on actual notes taken during the discussions.
Based on the discussions, the most common challenges identified were:
Funding and Budget Constraints
- The most pervasive concerns were institutions facing federal funding cuts, tight budgets, and threats to financial sustainability while struggling to demonstrate value and ROI for their investments.
Artificial Intelligence Integration and Readiness
- Widespread uncertainty about implementing AI in teaching, learning, and research, including concerns about infrastructure readiness, skills gaps, funding for AI initiatives, and managing the rapid pace of AI evolution.
Value Proposition of Higher Education
- Institutions questioning the value of higher education, struggling with declining enrollment, public distrust of higher education, and difficulty articulating their worth to diverse stakeholders.
Staffing and Workforce Challenges
- Critical issues with recruiting and retaining top talent, especially researchers and technical staff, coupled with urgent needs for upskilling existing workforce to handle emerging technologies and evolving job requirements.
Infrastructure and Security Modernization
- Continued need for enhanced connectivity, cybersecurity measures, and network modernization to support advanced computing and researcher needs, while managing technical debt and ensuring compliance with evolving data governance requirements. Continue to focus on and articulate the value of bespoke, R&E-built infrastructure.
Value Proposition of Internet2
- Members requesting assistance in articulating the value of Internet2 and its services / solutions to their organizational leadership.
Conversations then proceeded to focus on the top strategies for addressing these challenges while maintaining innovation, leveraging new technologies and articulating Internet2’s funding and value proposition.
Some of the key strategic takeaways for the community and Internet2 were:
Build Collaborative Communities and Knowledge-Sharing Opportunities
- Establish communities of practice, enhance communication about existing resources, share successful innovations, and create formal technical expert exchanges to disseminate best practices across the research and education community.
Develop Strategic Industry and Government Partnerships
- Form deeper relationships with trusted industry partners, explore public-private partnerships, leverage collective buying power for cost efficiency, and actively advocate for favorable national policies while understanding current administration priorities around AI and quantum computing.
Create Shared Infrastructure and Services
- Launch collaborative shared services including regional infrastructure (networks, storage, facilities), data governance and management platforms, and experimental sandboxes/incubators that allow institutions to test innovations at scale without individual investment risk.
Invest in Workforce Development and Professional Growth
- Provide professional development funding, create education programs for implementing innovative technologies, establish technical best practice bodies of knowledge, and build organizational cultures that support risk-taking and executive backing for innovative initiatives.
Focus on Practical AI and Emerging Technology Implementation
- Move beyond basic AI applications to explore robust AI integration, ensure equitable access to AI tools and GPU resources, establish community-wide minimum privacy and security standards, and develop institution-specific roadmaps that provide clear implementation blueprints for different types of organizations.
Transform Communication & Storytelling
- Move from technical network descriptions to outcome-focused narratives with compelling human stories, targeted messaging for specific personas, and coordinated advocacy efforts with vendors and partners to speak with one unified voice.
Demonstrate Quantifiable Business Value
- Build ROI calculators, showcase cost savings from consortial purchasing, clearly define what services would cost without Internet2’s collective buying power. Highlight value of Internet2’s role in building community-driven bespoke solutions tailored to the R&E community. Develop metrics that resonate with the community.
Expand and Strengthen Collaborative Services
- Enhance NET+ offerings into new areas (AI tools, hardware), negotiate competitive academic pricing models, improve procurement processes for all participants, and extend consortial benefits beyond traditional networking.
Deepen Member Engagement & Broaden Community Building
- Increase regular interaction through updates and feedback mechanisms, leverage in-person convenings, create environments for sharing best practices and innovation, and focus on member value discovery while expanding beyond research universities.
Build Comprehensive Advocacy Infrastructure
- Develop advocacy toolkits, strengthen federal and state lobbying efforts, collaborate with RENs for unified messaging, explore diverse funding sources beyond traditional university/federal channels, and establish training programs for next-generation workforce development.
These strategies emphasize collaboration, resource sharing, increased community engagement, and structured approaches to innovation and emerging technology adoption rather than isolated institutional efforts. It was also discussed that potential partnerships with federal agencies, major technology companies and cloud service providers, and leveraging the resources of the existing higher education and research ecosystem would most effectively advance these strategies.