Jan Gruntorád Elected Member of the GÉANT Project Executive Committee

The third generation of the most important European network project was launched in Stockholm on 1 December.

The director of the CESNET association, Ing. Jan Gruntorád, CSc., was again elected a member of the GÉANT Project Executive Committee. The election took place at the ceremonial launch of the third generation of this pan-European project that took place on 1 and 2 December in Stockholm, Sweden. The election of Gruntorád confirmed the important position of the CESNET association in the European Development Research Network.

The Executive Committee is in charge of the operating management of the entire project whose objective consists in the establishment of a new-generation pan-European research and development network. Klaus Ullmann, representing Germany's National Research and Education Network (DFN), was re-elected Chairman of the Executive Committee; Ivan Marič of Croatia (CARNet); Steve Hogger of Great Britain (JANET); Thomas Brunner of Switzerland (SWITCH); Rene Buch, representing the Nordic network NORDUNet; Marco Bonac of Slovenia (ARNES); Erik-Jan Boss of the Netherlands (SURFNet) and Sabine Jaume of France (RENATER) were elected members of the Board. The term of office of the Executive Committee is three years.

As stated during the official opening in Stockholm, the future of the internet will be shaped by network innovations and advanced user services which are now being launched within the scope of the third generation of the successful GÉANT project. Scheduled to be completed in 2013, the project has obtained a grant of 93 million Euros from the European Commission within the EU Seventh Framework Programme, and an equal sum was provided by the European Association of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). In building and developing the CESNET2 national research and education network, CESNET as an association of universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic has participated in the GÉANT project since the very beginning.

A dedicated broadband pan-European network, GÉANT is the core of the project, providing high-quality mutual interconnection between European national research and education networks with 50,000 kilometres of mostly optical cables. Thanks to this, more than 40 million users in more than 8,000 institutions have the opportunity to share large quantities of data and cooperate across disciplines both within and outside Europe.

The extent of the project is being enhanced by interconnection with other areas, including the North American continent, Asia and the Pacific (TEIN network), Latin America (RedCLARA), Central Asia (CAREN), the Mediterranean region (EUMEDCONNECT), China (ORIENT), Sub-Saharan Africa (Ubuntunet Alliance) and the Black Sea Region (BSI).

For more detailed information on the GÉANT project, see www.geant.net.

The CESNET association was founded by universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The association is currently financed mainly from the resources of the governmental Research and Development Board and funds from the association members. The association deals with the research and development of information and communication technologies, and it is building and developing the CESNET2 national gigabit optical network designed for research and educational purposes. Thanks to its research activities and accomplishments, the CESNET association represents the Czech Republic in the GÉANT pan-European network building project, and takes an active part in its implementation.