The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic has Accepted a New Research Plan from the CESNET Association

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic has accepted a new research plan - 'Optical Network for National Research and its New Applications' designed by the CESNET Association. The acceptance of this research plan will ensure its continuous financing for the next seven years, starting 1 January 2004.

The new research plan is tied to the research plan 'High-Speed Network for National Research and its New Applications' which was designed by the Association during the years 1996-2003 and successfully demonstrated by the Association at the beginning of this year. As a part of the plan, the TEN-155 CZ network was first created, which was a part of a similar project executed by the EU countries. Subsequently, the CESNET2 network was created. This network is an integral part of a larger network created by the initiative of the 5th EU framework program under the GÉANT project. Following global trends, the designers of the plan have focused on solving the tasks related to optical networks, implementing the IPv6 protocol, computing and access grids, multi-media services and end-to-end performance. Internationally acclaimed results have been achieved in these areas. This new research plan should follow up on these results.

The CESNET Association was jointly founded by the Czech Universities and the Czech Academy of Sciences for the purpose of operating a national network for science and research. The Association is funded by the Government Council for Science and Research and its members. The Association currently operates the CESNET2 gigabyte network. It is mainly because of this position and its other activities in the areas of research in telecommunications and internet technologies, that the CESNET Association represents the Czech Republic in the GÉANT project in which CESNET actively participates.