TNC 101: TNC for Newcomers

10:40 - 10:50 | Google AI to accelerate learning, development and research outcomes

This session will give an overview of how Google is empowering students, educators & researchers with Technology & AI to enhance meaningful learning & development.

With support from our partner SoftwareOne, we will explore use cases that improve student content quality, enable more time for teaching and stretch precious budgets further.

12:45 - 12:55 | Education in the AI Era

Join us at the Exchange Theatre for Microsoft’s General Manager, Kate Maxwell's keynote, 'Education in the AI Era,' to explore the transformative impact of AI on education, highlighting our partnership with GEANT, showcase investments being made in academic research, and Microsoft's commitment to empowering individuals and organizations worldwide

12:55-13:05 | Enabling Research in the Cloud - A Service Model

Overview of how the University of Nottingham have embraced Microsoft Azure as a central research tool to drive research output and impact. Walkthrough of the current engagement and service model implemented and the challenges faced along the way in offering researchers digital freedom whilst retaining appropriate governance and control.

13:20 - 13:40 | Network Digital Twin

A Network Digital Twin is a clone of a real network that replicates, as far as it is feasible, the functioning of devices and links (control plane, data plane, and management plane) so that you can play out scenarios that are impossible, cost-prohibitive, disruptive or too damn hard to perform in the real network.
One might ask, what caused yesterday's outage? What would this BGP policy change do to traffic patterns in my network? Or what would these traffic trends mean to my network in six or twelve months? It is more than a “test lab on steroids,” as one can (if the vision pans out) perform tasks in a Network Digital Twin that can’t be done in a lab or production network.
This talk will describe what a network digital twin is, what form it could take, how it can be instantiated, what one can do with a Network Digital Twin, and in what use cases it becomes vital. This talk explores the concepts and invites discussion and feedback; products and delivery plans, while crucial (in other contexts), are not implied.

15:40 - 15:50 | Accelerating Research with HPC in the Cloud

Overview of the process which Manchester Metropolitan University have followed in assessing their research community's digital needs and how to cater for them. MMU identified a HPC service as being integral to drive their research ambitions following community consultation. We will share how we adopted a researcher-led approach to shape the new Microsoft Azure-based service currently being readied for production deployment.

10:40 - 10:45 | Powering research and education with cloud innovation: flexibility, security and access

Innovate with Cloud! Jisc is driving flexibility, security, and access across research and education. In this lightning talk, we'll outline our approach to:

* Building hybrid cloud infrastructure that integrates public cloud with our on-premises systems.
* Creating trusted environments to secure sensitive research data for collaboration and discovery.
* Leveraging cloud identity to simplify and strengthen user access, including for services like eduroam.
* Effectively managing our evolving cloud infrastructure with smart tools.

Join us for a quick dive into practical cloud innovation powering R&E success!

10:45-10:50 | Be an NREN inclusive to LGBTQ+ people and see the benefits

When people are free to be themselves and do their best work, the benefits go beyond the individual. One of Jisc's four guiding principles is 'Always be inclusive', and we have a range of staff networks, including an LGBTQIA+ network. Our staff surveys tell us Jisc is seen as an inclusive workplace where they're free to be themselves. Hear from a co-chair of the network to learn some things you can put in place, big and small, to become an employer that enables everyone to do their best work by being their authentic selves.

11:05 - 11:25 | Focus on Your Mission, Not Complexity

The presentation underscores the crucial role of Research and Education (R&E) in driving human progress across multiple dimensions—social, technological, and economic. It emphasizes how the OCRE (Open Clouds for Research Environments) framework, along with its selected service providers, contributes significantly to this mission. By streamlining access to cloud technologies, offering tailored professional services, and incorporating essential security and compliance features, the OCRE framework simplifies the cloudification process for R&E institutions. This initiative ultimately aims to make cloud resources as accessible and routine as any other daily tool, fostering innovation and efficiency at scale.
Among the providers selected, Sparkle stands out as a key player. As the first international service provider in Italy and one of the leading global operators, Sparkle has been awarded the OCRE 2024 Framework contract by GÉANT—the pan-European network and service provider dedicated to the research and education community. Since 2016, Sparkle has been collaborating with prominent institutions and leading cloud platforms such as AWS and Google Cloud to facilitate secure, predictable, and easily accessible cloud procurement for R&E organizations. The description of some use cases shows the capabilities and benefits in real case projects.
Thanks to its extensive experience and strategic partnerships, Sparkle has proven to be a trustworthy and capable partner in supporting the digital transformation of the research and education sector, in Europe and globally. By abstracting the inherent complexities of cloud environments, Sparkle ensures a seamless experience for users, empowering institutions to focus on their core mission—advancing knowledge and innovation.

11:35 - 11:55 | The Future Proof GÉANT Network

Michel shares insights into how GÉANT selected Nomios in mid-2023 to replace its Juniper-based international IP backbone with new Nokia nodes. He’ll briefly introduce who Nomios is, and explain which Nokia equipment was chosen for this large-scale project.
He’ll also cover why the combination of Nomios and Nokia was selected, how the migration has been planned together with GÉANT, and where we currently stand in the rollout. Expect a clear overview of the project’s scope, progress, and what’s next.

12:05 - 12:25 | AI without the quicksand - Building a strong foundation for your AI-powered research

This session will discuss why and how cloud enables the research community to innovate and progress with their work.

12:45 - 13:05 | Scaling NREN optical networks for the AI-enabled future

Research and Education networks have always been at the forefront of technology, often with the highest traffic demands and toughest performance requirements. Exactly how AI will impact these networks is still to be determined but will likely add to the challenges of economically scaling bandwidth among data centers.

In this brief presentation, we will discuss the latest trends in optical networking innovation that will help NRENs easily scale optical transport networks in an uncertain future where bandwidth may rapidly accelerate due to AI workloads. Specifically, we’ll look at 800Gbps optics, supporting an IP over DWDM architecture and long-distance optical spans through pluggables directly mounted in IP routers.

Join us to understand the underlying innovation enabling this technological jump and how it fits in existing optical networks and the operational needs for NRENs.

13:20 - 13:40 | AI4Lecture, how leverage on AWS AI services for Higher Education teaching and learning

This presentation explores how AWS AI services can be effectively integrated into educational environments to enhance both teaching and learning experiences. We will examine practical applications of AWS AI tools such as Amazon Bedrock, to create more engaging, accessible, and personalized learning content while improving instructional efficiency and student engagement.

15:45 - 15:50 | Twinning with Kenya

ENET (Kenya) and Jisc (UK) have joined forces through the GEANT Twinning Programme. Find out more about what we learned from each other, and how we're going to keep working together in the future.

15:45-15:50: Security Operations Center

Jisc has launched a Security Operations Centre (SOC) for UK research and education. Find out more about how cyber attacks affect our members and how SOC will support our sectors.

10:40 - 10:50 | Maximizing AWS benefits for Education and Research through the OCRE frame agreement

AWS maximizes institutional benefits by providing high-performance computing, machine learning, and cost-optimized solutions to European research and education organizations through the OCRE framework agreement, enabling simplified procurement across 39 countries. This partner-led framework combines AWS's comprehensive cloud capabilities with streamlined purchasing processes, helping institutions accelerate research outcomes and educational innovation while reducing administrative overhead.

12:45 - 13:05 | Nordic Activities to Support Science and Education

NORDUnet is the regional collaboration of the five Nordic National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), working together to accelerate digitalisation in the Nordic research and education (R&E) ecosystem. Aligned with its strategic goal to be recognised as a key collaborator both within the Nordic region and internationally, NORDUnet supports the strategic objectives of the Nordic NRENs by offering a unified response to shared challenges.

Through the delivery of essential services such as Zoom, Kaltura, and LMS platforms—delivered on NORDUnet’s robust infrastructure—NORDUnet strengthens data protection and operational resilience for educational institutions. Looking ahead, NORDUnet is actively exploring the expansion of services to meet evolving needs across the Nordic and global R&E landscapes.

NORDUnet also plays a vital role in supporting open science and FAIR data by contributing to the EURO-FP and EOSC EU Node service delivery consortia. As coordinator of the AARC project, NORDUnet leads the advancement of the AARC interoperability framework, providing a blueprint for federated authentication and authorisation systems for the global research community.

Finally, by delivering high-capacity global network connectivity, NORDUnet ensures Nordic researchers remain active participants in major international scientific endeavours such as the LHC, SKA, and EISCAT.

13:20 - 13:40 | DeepL: Language AI Powering Secure Multilingual Research & Education

In an increasingly interconnected world, research and education transcend geographical boundaries. Yet, the challenge of seamless multilingual collaboration, especially while safeguarding sensitive data and intellectual property, is paramount for academic and research institutions. This session will explore how DeepL, a leading European AI company, specialising in Language AI, is revolutionising global communication within these sectors. We'll delve into DeepL's enterprise-grade security features and commitment to digital sovereignty, demonstrating how institutions can leverage this technology to foster international partnerships, accelerate knowledge dissemination, and enhance accessibility without compromising data integrity. Discover how partners like SoftwareOne are helping institutions securely integrate and utilise DeepL's capabilities to unlock the full potential of global academic exchange.

15:40 - 15:50 | Celebrating 20 years of perfSONAR

For two decades, perfSONAR has served as a robust platform for network performance measurement and analysis, built and maintained by a vibrant open-source community from various R&E organisations. This presentation will celebrate 20 years of collaboration, recap the recent changes, briefly describe the current feature set and the roadmap ahead. We'll invite you to participate by showing yourself or your organisation on our perfSONAR users map.