Prague CEF Networks Workshop Attracted Experts from all over the World

On the 19th and 20th of September, 66 representatives of national science and research networks from all over the world – Australia, Asia, North America, South America and Europe – met in Prague to exchange experience in the design and operation of Customer Empowered Fibre (CEF) Networks and to formulate major guidelines for their further research and development.

The host of the meeting was the CESNET association, which develops and operates the CEF national research and education network CESNET2, connected to the GÉANT2 network, and network experimental facility ("testbed") CzechLight, connected to GLIF – Global Lambda Integrated Facility. The workshop was opened by the director of CESNET Jan Gruntorád.

The basic characteristic of CEF networks is the fact that the operators are the actual users, who just lease the fibre (or have it laid) and take care of the technology that transmits data over it on their own. Thus they have fibres at their disposal, or the right to use them, making their own decisions on the method of construction of the network (in particular, its optical transmission system) and on network control. As the users of customer empowered networks – often scientific and research facilities – have specific requirements for transfer parameters and prices, CEF networks are tailored to their actual needs.

The workshop participants concluded that CEF networks have been successfully implemented in metropolitan, national and continent-wide science and research networks, and now the CEF approach is followed by city authorities, companies, hospitals etc. Some vendors have realized that there is a newly emerging market segment.

The workshop website at http://www.ces.net/doc/seminars/cef2007/ contains documents recommending further progress in the CEF area and presentations focusing on the most important CEF network projects on the worldwide level.

The CESNET association has been founded by universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The association is currently financed mainly from the resources of the governmental Committee for Research and Education and the resources of the members of the association. The association deals with the research and development of information and communication technologies, building and developing the national gigabit optical network, CESNET2, designed for research and educational purposes. With its research activities and accomplishments, the CESNET association can represent the Czech Republic in the pan-European GÉANT2 network construction project as well as other international projects.