Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
By Sean O’Brien, Internet2 NET+ Program Director
In early 2021, many of the community efforts in the NET+ program centered around the theme of storage. As the falling price of storage is no longer outpacing the increased utilization, there is increased price pressure on software-as-a-services offerings. The research and education community is working together with the Internet2 NET+ program on a number of fronts to solve these and other challenges. Learn more about these efforts, new NET+ services launching, and our latest I2 Online sessions in this spring update.
Cloud Storage Working Group to Continue Work on Emerging Challenges
The research and education community is increasingly aware of the challenges of data storage and retention, especially video data, and CSTAAC has chartered a community working group to evaluate opportunities for community action in both policy and technical arenas. The current group includes representatives from nine different universities and additional participants from Internet2 affiliate and industry members. The Working Group recently released a survey on content collaboration storage and invites higher education institutions to participate. We invite others to participate by emailing us for more information. Learn more and consider participating.
NET+ Google Workspace for Education Service Evaluation Group Works to Advocate for Workable Storage Models
As widely discussed across the higher education community, Google has introduced new offerings which include new storage requirements. The research and education community is actively engaged with Google through a NET+ service evaluation. A group of CIOs and community leaders is working to engage Google on the creation of a workable business model as part of the forthcoming NET+ offering. Join us on June 22nd to learn more about the NET+ offering which is expected to be available to the Internet2 higher education community by May 2021.
NET+ airSlate/signNow Service Now Available
With support from Claremont Graduate University, airSlate/signNow is now part of the NET+ program as a pre-evaluation NET+ service effective March 30, 2021. Services include an e-signature solution, workflow automation software, document generation, and more. Join us on June 3rd to learn more about the NET+ signNow/airSlate offering.
2020 NET+ I2 Online Highlights: Video recaps range from approximately 15-30 minutes and can even be listened to while enjoying a nice spring walk! Catch up on how your peers are leveraging NET+ services to meet shifting demands through these summary videos of each session held from the start of the pandemic when we pivoted our in-person events to online webinars.
Past and Upcoming Virtual Events
Following the success of the 2020 NET+ I2 Online series, programming has continued in 2021 to address some of the most pressing challenges our Internet2 community is facing. First, take a moment to review the highlights from 2020 and our first sessions in 2021 via links provided below. If you have suggestions for future topics, please let Tara Gyenis know.
Past Events
| February 2021 | March 2021 |
| How Universities are Providing Self-Service Cloud Environments for Researchers | Managing Video Content Retention Using Panopto |
| Speakers from the University of Sydney and Harvard Medical School shared how RONIN and Service Workbench on AWS aid their institutions in providing self-service, managed, cloud-based research environments in genomics and biomed use cases. | Learn how the University of Iowa researched and implemented a content retention solution using Panopto and integrated it with their Canvas and Zoom services. |
| Read the recap and watch the video | Watch the video |
Upcoming Events
| April 28th | May 18 | May 26 |
| Shifting LMS and Student Expectations | Strengthening Access SecurityFeaturing Devices, Data, and Policy in Higher Education | New NET+ Services Introduced to Meet Higher Ed Community Needs |
| Participate with campus technology leaders in a panel discussion about how to meet changing student and faculty expectations with deep technology integrations to help prepare for a post-pandemic shift in higher education. | Join us to learn more about how your institution can strengthen its device access security with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and other best practices. | Join your peers to learn about several new services launching this Spring and review the Internet2 NET+ program benefits. |
| Register to attend | Register to attend | Register to attend |
Call to Participate in Cloud Scorecard Project
The cloud scorecard working group, convened by the Internet2 NET+ cloud services program, released its final report in February 2021 and called for more Internet2 members to participate in the second phase which is focused on the implementation of the scorecard. Learn more and join now!
Service Evaluation Updates
There are 17 different Internet2 higher education members participating across three different active NET+ service evaluations. These new services will meet community needs to support multi-cloud management, strengthen cybersecurity, and support members use of Google Workspace for Education.
Learn more:
CloudChecker Premium
Google Workspace for Education
Palo Alto Networks
AWS and GCP Force Multiplier
One of the many superpowers of the NET+ AWS and NET+ GCP programs is the work we do together. In addition to their leadership and advocacy work with the service advisory boards, institutions in these programs participate in regular meetings to share their challenges, lessons learned, and best practices. They share code, discuss strategy, and engage directly with technical specialists and product teams from the cloud providers. Many schools have small cloud teams and our regular calls are force multipliers. If you’re not regularly attending our AWS Technology & Tactics calls or GCP Subscriber meetings, you are leaving ideas, productivity and real value on the table. Contact Bob Flynn to get in the game.