CENIC

In Support of Research & Education Network Initiatives

in California

Summary

Information technology is an integral part of the nation's higher education and research programs and is of increasing importance in secondary and earlier school curricula. Distributed teaching and learning, distributed research and collaboration, and the use of distributed resources to enhance and enrich these and a broad range of human endeavors will transform the university and society in the 21st century.

The backbone of modern information technology systems is the broadband communications networks which enable ready communications among colleagues as well as access to a wide range of information resources and services. Not only must capacity increase but the types of communications services available to applications must diversify in order to accommodate new types of advanced applications.

This rapidly increasing demand for advanced data communications services has resulted in very significant new costs which must be borne by higher education institutions. In response to this challenge, technology leaders in California's higher education community have joined together to form a public benefit corporation that will coordinate and focus initiatives to achieve the most cost effective advanced communication services for all higher education and research institutions in California.


Background

Academic researchers and information technology leaders in California's higher education and research community have been in the forefront of shaping national and international computer networks since the inception of the ARPANET in the late 1960's. California's universities were among the first in the nation to deploy "next generation" packet data communications technology in the early 1980's. They are now in the midst of planning for the next critical step in the advancement of data communications services. These next generation services must be widely available as soon as possible in order to support new modes of teaching, learning, collaboration and research.

In a series of meetings during 1996, representatives from Stanford University, the University of California, the California State University, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of Southern California with participation of the USC Information Sciences Institute articulated a common vision for the innovative use of communications technology to deliver the next generation of data communications services. Fundamental to this vision is the existence of an advanced wide area communications infrastructure serving all institutions of higher education in California and linked seamlessly with the emerging national advanced network infrastructure.


The Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California

The Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC), a non-profit public benefit corporation, has been formed to represent the common interests of California's higher education academic and research communities in achieving robust, high capacity, next generation Internet communications services. The Corporation's leadership is drawn from California higher education institutions and information technology industries. It is highly accountable to the institutions it serves in order to fulfill the trust that has been placed with it.


The Mission of CENIC

The mission of CENIC is to facilitate and coordinate the development, deployment and operation of a set of seamless and robust advanced Internet communications services and to catalyze the development of advanced research and education applications in furtherance of California's leadership in the higher education and research community. CENIC seeks and encourages close partnerships with the private sector, government, and other segments of the education community.


Goals of the CENIC

Goals of the CENIC include:

1. Oversee deployment of a robust, cost effective, state-of-the-art statewide communications infrastructure and supporting resources accessible to all post-secondary institutions in California;
   
2. Ensure high quality access to research support facilities such as the National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI) at UC San Diego, the Department of Energy labs, and the NASA Science facilities;
   
3. Facilitate high quality operational support for the new infrastructure;
   
4. Coordinate development and promulgation of common protocol standards and practices among participating institutions to ensure end-to-end high quality services and interoperability;
   
5. Ensure that the advanced communications infrastructure can be utilized fully and effectively by the institutions it serves;
   
6. Enable the study of a variety of cost recovery models for the delivery of advanced communications services and their potential impact on the institutions receiving services;
   
7. Catalyze partnerships with governmental agencies and the private sector to facilitate availability of pre-competitive communications services and equipment in support of advanced information technology applications;
   
8. Represent the common interests of the institutions it serves in leveraging relationships with vendors and in working with statewide and national governmental bodies;
   
9. Advance the national network communications infrastructure through active participation in UCAID, Internet2, and other initiatives.
   

The CalREN-2 Network

The first objective of CENIC is to facilitate realization of the "California Research and Education Network - 2" (CalREN-2), an advanced services Internet that will serve all CENIC Associate institutions. CENIC will plan the network and associated services, identify funding sources and operational responsibilities needed to achieve this infrastructure, and select and advise the Project Director during the development, deployment and operation of the network throughout California.

Creation of CalREN-2 will be the key enabling step towards fulfilling information technology's promise of enrichment of a broad range of research and education programs in California. Requirements for the CalREN-2 network have been defined to support interconnection of all institutions of higher education in California using state-of-the-art communications technology. This infrastructure will support cost effective access to a wide variety of commodity as well as pre-commercial and experimental new communications services. Peering with NPACI and Federal networks will support ready access to supercomputing facilities and collaboration with Federally sponsored research labs and research partners.

The first phase of a proposed three phase plan towards realizing CalREN-2 was described in a joint proposal1 prepared by a consortium of CENIC Associate institutions and addressed to the National Science Foundation (NSF) on January 31, 1997 under their "High Performance Connections Program." The grant request, entitled "CalREN-2 The California Research and Education Network," was submitted by the UC Office of the President on behalf of the CENIC consortium. It defined a focused strategy to begin building the CalREN-2 network in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the greater Los Angeles area. Full funding for this proposal was awarded in May, 1997.

Phase two will connect these regional advanced networks to the national advanced Internet, referred to as the Very High Performance Backbone Network System (vBNS), in support of participation in Internet2. Phase three will complete a state-wide interconnect backbone extending from San Diego to Sacramento.

The California State University (CSU) system will be included in Phase three of the deployment of CalREN-2 but CSU will continue to maintain its statewide backbone until CalREN-2 can offer all the services CSU requires. Additional links into the CalREN-2 backbone will support new Associate institutions from the Mexican border to the Oregon border and from the Pacific Ocean to the Mojave desert.

The Structure of CENIC

CENIC is a California public benefit corporation that offers services to its Associates. CENIC was incorporated in August, 1997. CENIC has a 10 member Board of Directors.

Organization of the CENIC

The CENIC has an appointed Board of Directors with directors drawn from staff of its Associate institutions. The composition of the board is as follows: one third of the directors are from the UC system, one third from the CSU system, and one third equally from CalTech, Stanford, and USC. Additional directors may be drawn from private industry or closely affiliated research institutions. Subsequent directors will be elected by the seated board from nominees submitted by the executive office of each Charter institution.

The Executive Director of CENIC is appointed by the Board of Directors. The Executive Director will hire administrative staff and a technical director to carry out the mission of CENIC as defined by the Board of Directors.

CENIC also defines three Advisory Councils reporting to the Board. The Technical Advisory Council investigates and advises on new technologies and their incorporation within CalREN-2. The Business Advisory Council studies CENIC organizational and administrative issues and recommends direction to the Board. The Academic Advisory Council is composed of faculty and researchers from across all CENIC Associate institutions who are leading the efforts to develop advanced applications that will make use of the new network infrastructure.

Association with CENIC

Institutions that become Associates of CENIC are eligible to receive services offered by CENIC. Industrial Associates will be sought as partners in CENIC initiatives but their eligibility for CENIC services must be determined by the CENIC Board of Directors. All Associate institutions are eligible to send representatives to participate in CENIC meetings, workshops, and seminars.


Business and Financial Model

Institutions that become Associates of CENIC will pay annual dues to offset the costs of CENIC administration, as well as fees for services rendered to them by CENIC. The fee structure is determined by the Board of Directors with advice from the CENIC Business Advisory Council.