TNC25: Brighton, UK | 9-13 June 2025
TNC25: Brighton, UK | 9-13 June 2025
SESSIONS
More details will follow
This talk uses the physical infrastructure of the Internet as an entry point for a discussion of how contemporary knowledge infrastructure shapes imagination and possibilities. Considering the geopolitics at play in every level of network architecture, it explores the implications of thousands of small technical decisions for what is thinkable in the contemporary knowledge environment. Drawing on time spent with the crew of the Leon Thevenin, Africa’s only dedicated oceanic fiber optic repair vessel, it humanizes the work of building, maintaining and expanding knowledge networks across divided political geographies. It poses critical questions of consideration regarding the knowledge that we have, the knowledge that we want, and who this knowledge is designed to serve.
This session showcases how the TNC Community can be "Brighter Together" by looking at inclusion opportunities across a range of activities - from the accessibility of our services, through leadership considerations to diversity in technical teams, our speakers will demonstrate how addressing inclusion can improve our environment for everyone.
As digitalization accelerates, so do cyber threats, highlighting the need for diverse talent in cybersecurity. ZoomIn4PinkHats - ZI4PH project, funded by the GÉANT Innovation Programme 2024, addressed these challenges through gamification, mentorship, and peer-to-peer learning methods. This presentation will highlight activities, research and project results conducted over six months in Croatian schools, focusing on bridging the workforce and gender gap in cybersecurity. This initiative would hopefully inspire shaping a more inclusive and resilient cybersecurity future, fostering diverse talent and innovation in the field.
When the digital products we buy are accessible, they can be used by everyone including people who are disabled, or who have other access requirements. Covering the current legal context for digital accessibility in the UK and the EU, this presentation will also consider:
* the use of AI in tools to support accessibility
* factors impacting the procurement of digital products
* how the sector might manage the complexities of rapidly changing technology used in education and research
From procurement teams to product owners, this presentation will be relevant for everyone with an interest in equal access to education and research.
Following on from her highly successful TNC24 presentation where Teresa addressed the headline issues of leadership and culture, this TNC25 presentation will take delegates deeper into the leadership equation and consider how the critical elements of diversity, inclusion, psychological safety, and social conscience intersect to ensure ongoing cultural success within our NREN community. This session will not only inform delegates about the critical aspects and emerging trends but equip them with avenues to maximise the growth of their people and culture, to ensure a secure and successful future. The presentation will also showcase the NREN Global Leadership Development Programme.
Explore the development of HAWAT, an agentic AI assistant designed for network troubleshooting. This innovative system leverages advanced technologies like Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and Reasoning and Acting (ReAct) frameworks to autonomously manage network conditions and provide natural language interfaces for network administrators. Next, dive into the AI4LAM initiative, which is revolutionizing the cultural heritage sector. This collaborative network is dedicated to advancing AI tools and services for libraries, archives, and museums, enhancing the management and accessibility of digitized content while fostering innovation and knowledge sharing. Finally, discover the FedXAI4DNS project, which employs Federated Learning and Explainable AI to bolster DNS security in privacy-aware environments. This project showcases how AI can collaboratively detect malicious traffic, ensuring network security without compromising user privacy. This session promises to be a captivating journey through the latest AI innovations, offering valuable insights for anyone curious about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence.
HAWAT (Heuristic Analysis With Adaptive Troubleshooting) is an agentic AI assistant for network troubleshooting. This presentation explores the development of a chatbot system designed to interface with network hardware, leveraging recent advances in Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and Reasoning and Acting (ReAct) agentic frameworks. Our system demonstrates how agentic AI can autonomously interpret network conditions, execute commands, and provide network administrators with natural language interfaces to network infrastructure. We will detail how the system was built and present pre recorded demos of the chatbot in action.
The AI for Libraries, Archives, and Museums (AI4LAM) community is an international, participatory network dedicated to advancing the use of artificial intelligence within the cultural heritage sector. The community is at the forefront of developing and maintaining cutting-edge AI tools and services tailored for heritage institutions to better provide access, management and (re)use of digitized and digitally born content by supporting collaboration, innovation, and sharing of knowledge in the field of AI for institutions worldwide.
AI4LAM's commitment to openly share and provide access to knowledge aligns with Open Science principles to make scientific research more transparent, accessible, and collaborative. The partnership between AI4LAM and the GÉANT community represents a unique opportunity to advance the use of AI in LAM. By working together, we can build a more innovative, secure, and collaborative future.
Machine Learning (ML) has seen limited adoption within large-scale networks (e.g. NRENs). Organisations are reluctant to share their data in fear of compromising end-user privacy, thus representative datasets to train accurate ML classifiers are usually not available. Moreover, complex black-box ML classifiers are not intrinsically explainable, hence network engineers are reluctant to deploy them. We present FedXAI4DNS that employs ML, Federated Learning (FL) and eXplainable AI (XAI) for collaborative and trustworthy detection of malignant DNS traffic produced by Domain Generation Algorithms (DGAs). FL enables collaborating organisations to jointly train privacy-aware classifiers without exchanging sensitive data, whereas XAI suggests methods for justifying configurations of complex black-box models. FedXAI4DNS aims at expediting ML adoption within collaborative environments (e.g. NRENs & GÉANT).
This session will shine a light, maybe even a laser, on the global connectivity landscape, unwrapping how different world regions interconnect today and how that might need to evolve into the future. Delivering connectivity and building networks within a single country is business as usual for an NREN, but in this session we will learn about the challenges of deploying connectivity between continents, under the sea, and through some of the most challenging environments on earth. 3 unique perspectives from 3 different organisations will offer a fascinating insight into what it takes to continually enhance capability and keep research and education traffic flowing across the globe.
Global Connectivity has grown in term of bandwidth as well as diversity. This has not come about by chance but more of a deliberate and concerted effort by multiple NRENs to ensure the demands of the research and education community are met both in terms of bandwidth, resilience and trust with the increase in global collaboration. In 2024, the resilience in connectivity and backup plans was put to the test as we experience an abnormal number of cable disruptions around the world especially between Europe and Asia. Thanks to the foresight of NRENs leaders and the great work of the network engineers, the impact of cable breaks has been minimised. The presentation will cover how NRENs have collaboratively work together to ensure a resilient, pervasive Research and education network, ie how do we keep the data flowing across the R&E network.
Our presentation will provide an insider's view of the efforts required to built a nearly 9,000-kilometer-long submarine Internet cable with 21 landing points in the Mediterranean.This non-technical session will delve into the multifaceted process of constructing a submarine cable, providing an insider's view of the efforts required to create the digital infrastructure we use daily.
Submarine cable systems are essential to global digital infrastructure, enabling connectivity and international collaboration. Polar Connect is a bold and transformative initiative aimed at establishing vital connectivity between Europe and East Asia, across the central Arctic Ocean. This presentation will examine the pivotal role of Research and Education Networks (RENs) and public funding in the development of complex, critical infrastructure projects. It will also address the growing need for economic security and digital autonomy for Europe and its allies. Additionally, it will highlight how Polar Connect, through cutting-edge technological innovations, will benefit RENs, the global research community, and education worldwide.
While change is constant and informed change is vital, we cannot look to the future without understanding our past and our present. In this session we will delve into three core subjects for NRENs: ITSM, Network Architecture and Strategic Design. Our speakers from Switch, Jisc and Sikt will share their wisdom & experience and explain how it has helped their present and future, and how it can help you too!
It's 2025. Switch is 38 years old. Teams have grown with a lot of autonomy, unique processes, and tools. While this structure basically works, delivering across boundaries is hard as complexity expands and the need for clearly demonstrated compliance increases. IT Service Management is not a topic to set pulses racing with excitement yet it became a surprising useful approach to build bridges across the organisation.
This is a story about throwing away a formal project to focus on grassroots engagement, organisational design principles and new ITSM tooling and processes to glue Switch together.
What do you need to think about when building and operating a research and education network? This will be a quick jaunt through some of the many factors that make up a network architecture, and how it fits into the environment that we operate in, from the fibre in the ground to the services we offer our customers and the regulatory environment we have to work in, both now and perhaps a bit of speculation where it might be in five years’ time.
The talk showcases how NRENs can enhance their effectiveness by integrating their technical expertise with other disciplines. We provide a concrete example with Feide, the Norwegian identity federation, illustrating how the application of design principles and expertise contributed to the creation of its product strategy. This cross-disciplinary approach can offer valuable insights and potential strategies for NRENs as they navigate their own future challenges. From our presentation, we hope the audience will take away:
1. An understanding of how inclusive work with customers and partners in developing a product strategy can help stakeholders see the bigger picture and contribute to a more holistic approach to problem-solving.
2. An appreciation of the essential role that product strategy plays in creating shared understanding of collective value creation goals, thereby fostering unity and collaboration.
3. An insight into how a robust product strategy forms a solid foundation for effective goal-setting (OKR) and prioritization in daily operations, streamlining processes, and enhancing productivity.
What is a day in the life of an NREN like? Do we all share the same daily grind? Are differences keeping us apart or are we brighter together?
In this session, 3 NRENs reveal their daily reality. They reflect on organisational culture, unravel the challenges ahead for NREN collaboration and question if the world needs more NRENs at all.
National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) have played a crucial role in fostering collaboration, innovation, and connectivity in research and education. However, the question remains: does the world need more NRENs, or should efforts focus on optimizing existing ones? What have we done, what have we not done and what do we need to do? This presentation critically examines the current state of NRENs, assessing their impact in addressing challenges. Drawing on case studies from existing NRENs, the session will highlight how they have tackled specific challenges while identifying areas for future improvement.
A look at the culture of NRENs from the perspective of how it can interact with and affect personal life. By looking into personal stories of emotion and trauma this talk brings to life how a good organisational culture can play out in daily life, how it affects individuals performance and wellbeing, and why NRENs are exemplars for simply getting these things right.
NRENs have come a long way as individual organisations and as a collective acting through GÉANT, and we’ve figured out how to achieve good and tangible results together. However, what served us well in the past may not be sufficient for the future. In this talk I aim to present a holistic and easy-to-understand overview of the challenges facing the GÉANT collaboration, possible paths forward and their practical consequences, benefits and cons, observed from the point of view of an active participant in the GÉANT collaboration. The aim of the talk is to provide food for thought: to make the wider GÉANTcommunity aware of the major issues at play and enable all community participants to participate in and contribute to the further maturing of the GÉANT collaboration from their perspective, so we can have a bright future, together
NRENs are built on the power of collaboration, and true impact comes when we align technical expertise with shared purpose, global cooperation, and collective action. This session highlights three unique ways NRENs are working as one to deliver more than the sum of their parts. We’ll see how AARNet and Cybera leverage time zones for seamless security operations, how SURF’s shared vision strengthens strategy and community, and how 39 NRENs simplify cloud adoption through OCRE2024. Join us to see collaboration at scale in action!
AARNet (Australia) and Cybera (Alberta, Canada) are in close collaboration, taking the AARNet recipe of building and operating a Managed Security Operations Centre (SOC) Service and implementing it in Alberta. The benefits are multiple: Cybera have been able to stand up this complex service more quickly than if they had started from scratch, benefitting from AARNet’s hard-won experience over the preceding years. And in return, AARNet have been able to rapidly launch 24x7 operation, with Cybera analysts taking over the night-shift thanks to the favourable timezones. This presentation will describe the challenges and successes of this unique NREN collaboration.
The NREN community excels in technical innovation. True impact requires more than technical expertise though. Safeguarding autonomy, fostering public values, and embracing the benefits of collaboration must be part of a NREN’s DNA.
In this talk, we explore SURF’s journey to develop a shared story and common purpose as key drivers for growth and resilience. We show how this process became the foundation for long-term decision-making, focus, and prioritization.
By combining insights from both service portfolio management and corporate communications, we demonstrate how this approach can empower NREN’s to align their values, streamline their processes, and prepare for future challenges. This while ensuring everyone feels part of a shared heartbeat driving innovation in research and education.
The presentation "A Bright Future in the Cloud – Unique Collaboration on Cloud Procurement" at TNC25 will showcase GÉANT’s OCRE2024 initiative, a pan-European cloud procurement framework. Launched in February 2025, it unites 39 NRENs and approximately 25,000 institutions, securing cloud services worth up to €1.7 billion. With 416 framework agreements, it simplifies procurement, ensuring compliance, security, sustainability, and AI readiness. The session will cover outcomes, key benefits, tender goals, the working processes, and adoption insights, aiming to empower R&E institutions to leverage this innovative, large-scale collaboration. Presenters include experts from HEAnet and GÉANT.
As technology evolves rapidly, commercial vendors sometimes introduce services that parallel those in the research and education space—often in ways that don’t align with our usual practices. These advancements can present exciting opportunities for innovation, a chance to collaborate and influence development, or a potential threat to existing services. This cross-discipline session will explore how the community has responded to three emerging technologies, examining both the risks and opportunities they bring.
How to change a balance on a slack chord towards a brighter, safer future together? How can we bring our community together to have enough leverage in a big tech ruled world? We are striving for a brighter, safer, privacy-friendly future together and using the newest tech, with the lowest price, public values and a good feeling to top it. Companies are pushing and our members are challenging us as well. We are in a squeeze. In this talk we share our learnings, but it is especially a shoutout for cooperation. Who wants to join our movement?
Join us for an insightful presentation on the risks of distributed digital identity in research and education wallet. We will explore financial, legal, strategic, and security challenges, analyze market trends, regulatory hurdles, governance complexities, and data security concerns, and discuss effective risk assessment and mitigation strategies. Designed for professionals shaping the future of digital identity and distributed solutions, this session offers a global perspective with valuable insights for both regional and international stakeholders. Don't miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding and engage in a critical discussion on shaping the future of distributed digital identity.
Wi-Fi is evolving, and there is a parallel universe developing besides eduroam. Come in and discover the basics of OpenRoaming!
Strap in for a high-speed ride through the world of research networking! From deep-sea cables to black holes and stormy weather, this session explores how cutting-edge networks fuel fast, data-intensive research. When data moves at the speed of light (literally), challenges like security risks, infrastructure gaps, and massive data volumes can make or break a project. But with trusted environments, smarter architectures, and faster validation techniques, the research community is shifting into high gear. Whether it’s saving the planet, decoding the universe, or outpacing the next storm, this session proves that in research, speed isn’t just thrilling—it’s essential.
Given the increasing frequency of severe weather events globally, the need for accurate and reliable weather forecasts, relying on Near Real-Time (NRT) data, has become more critical than ever. This presentation explores EUMETSAT's EUMETCast Terrestrial service, delivered over GÉANT networks, providing high-quality NRT meteorological data. It highlights the technical implementation of Automatic Multicast Tunneling (AMT) and Source-Specific Multicast, focusing on their impact on accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and reliability for weather agencies. The session also discusses the benefits of leveraging NREN infrastructure to enable efficient global data distribution, and examines how service evolution is meeting the growing demands of users.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is an international collaboration of 11 telescopes and two correlator sites capturing groundbreaking images of black holes. Traditionally, data collected during observations is stored on physical disks and shipped to processing facilities, causing delays in confirming telescope configurations. This new precheck demonstration leverages high-speed research and education (R&E) networks to transfer a subset of data in near-real time to MIT Haystack Observatory. This enables rapid validation of site setups, reducing the risk of errors during critical campaigns. International Networks at Indiana University, in collaboration with global partners will demonstrate real time data processing and fringe detection to highlight the impact of advanced networking and collaboration on scientific discovery.
Fibre Optic Sensing (FOS) exploits fibres’ exceptional sensitivity to subtle changes in acoustics, strain, pressure, and temperature. Integrator instruments, AI assisted signal analytics and event fingerprinting, can monitor earthquakes, tsunamis, global environment, marine health, critical infrastructure, ocean vessels movements and more, in real time. The massive volumes of nontrivial real-time data pose significant data management challenges and has serious national security implications. To address this, a SUBMERSE project White Paper outlines a FOS Collaborative Framework, based on a "Trusted Research Environment (TRE)" approach, which will be elaborated in this talk.
Invitation Only - please note this is a private side meeting for NREN CEOs only. Invites will have been sent directly to indiviudals who can attend this event.
"Big Data Works" presents perspectives on handling and analyzing large-scale network data. Gain insights from Brazil’s National R&E Network on leveraging monitoring data for aiding scientific research. Presenters from Restena and CIRCL from Luxembourg reveal how discarded “blackhole” traffic can uncover hidden security indicators and transform
defense strategies. Finally, CERN explains how HL-LHC’s upcoming tenfold data surge challenges Research and Education networks, introducing preparatory Data Challenges exercises.
RNP provides internet connectivity across Brazil and generates vast monitoring and performance data. To support research, RNP has developed tools to make this data accessible accessible. This presentation will address two central questions: (i) In what ways can monitoring data from NRENs drive scientific research? and (ii) What actions can we take to foster scientific research using this data? In 2024, RNP embarked on a series of targeted studies and actions to explore and answer these questions. Our presentation will share key findings from this work, which have contributed to answering these questions and demonstrating the value of these initiatives.
In security, a blackhole is a place in the infrastructure where incoming traffic is silently discarded without informing the source, therefore the traffic does not reach its destination. The blackhole traffic, or otherwise called unwanted traffic, can be considered as worthless traffic - trash. However, this is far from being the case. That traffic may include interesting attack indicators or even information about incorrect technical configurations that may be used for reconnaissance, so finding attack vectors on a new victim.
The takeaway of this presentation is to raise awareness about the importance of careful configurations of devices by showing practical examples and to show some mitigation techniques to properly configure devices such that your config does not talk trash!
HL-LHC, the upgrade of the LHC accelerator coming on-line in 2030, will generate a much larger amount of data then today, which will heavily impact the load of the R&E networks. This presentation will describe the computing model, how data will move in the R&E networks, the major challenges that the R&E community will face and how we are preparing to tackle them.
Looking to explore advancements in digital identity management and student information systems across European higher education? This session covers the need to implement cross-border identity verification and access for international students in Swedish universities, automated course enrollment for European exchange students using eduGAIN and MyAcademicID in The Netherlands, and Norway's implementation of a shared Identity and Access Management (IAM) system. Together, these initiatives demonstrate the education sector's progress toward easing international student mobility while addressing key challenges in security, data quality, and institutional autonomy in an increasingly interconnected academic landscape.
In this TNC Talk, a technical solution is presented for the automatic enrollment of European exchange students in their selected courses at a host institution. The speakers will demonstrate how a student logs in to their home institution via eduGAIN and how OAuth tokens, issued by MyAcademicID, enable and secure the communication between institutions.
National identity schemes are often incompatible across borders, complicating access to essential services when moving internationally. IT systems struggle with verifying identities using localized attributes, causing inefficiencies, manual workarounds, and loss of student access. This is particularly problematic in education, where long-term access to academic records is necessary. Efforts within global identity federations and the EU aim to enhance interoperability using academic identities and ePassports. Addressing these challenges is essential for institutions managing cross-border identity assurance and secure access, as exemplified by the Swedish Student Information System, Ladok.
There is a lot of focus on IT- security measures in all organisations, but do we pay
sufficient attention to the people who navigate the organisation’s data and systems? The speaker believes more could and should be done to improve how we handle access rights and the quality of data about access rights. This presentation will discuss the rationales behind and experiences with the implementation of a common IAM solution for Higher Education & Research in Norway.
Join us for an engaging session that explores innovative strategies to foster motivation, strengthen collaboration, and build a workforce prepared for the challenges ahead. Explore practical approaches for optimizing team dynamics and talent management, with a special focus on the unique needs of the cybersecurity and network sectors. Whether you’re looking to implement broad team-building tools or refine your approach within specialized fields, this session will equip you with actionable insights to strengthen your team and drive success.
The Technology Training for Non-Traditionals (TNTs) taps into talent with unconventional paths to expand the cyberinfrastructure workforce. This session highlights the journeys of two early-career participants at SC24 in Atlanta. Hear how their unique experiences defied traditional career routes and led to thriving tech roles. Their stories offer bold insights into building a more innovative workforce.
In today’s competitive landscape, recruiting and retaining top network talent is more critical than ever. This session explores strategies like internal competence shifting, student outreach, university partnerships, and targeted recruitment campaigns that boosted our team by over 20%. Learn how fostering adaptability, lifelong learning, and youth engagement can build a thriving talent pool. To stay ahead, we must innovate and embrace fresh approaches—because "What got you here won’t get you there."
Struggling to keep talent or boost engagement? Want a simple, fun tool to help you motivate your team and improve retention? This session, inspired by the Centre for Talent Retention, introduces a hands-on tool that reveals why people join, engage, and stay. Exceptional leaders know their people’s individual motivators and leverage them to improve morale and results. Walk away with actionable steps to create a happier, more productive team.
Ever wondered why your wristwatch isn’t quite enough for cutting-edge science? Time and Frequency Transfer (TFT) is the invisible force behind everything from radio telescopes to subatomic particle physics—but what is it, really? In this accessible, jargon-free talk, we’ll break down time, frequency, and how they’re transferred over fiber—without the technical deep dive. Whether you’re curious or just tired of nodding along in meetings, this session will give you a clear understanding of why TFT matters and how NRENs are shaping its future.
This session will unpack the EU AI Act and its critical role in shaping the future of AI in education, offering the TNC25 community actionable insights into navigating this regulatory landscape. As AI becomes essential to educational technology, compliance with the Act’s high-risk classifications and ethical standards is crucial for building trust and protecting learners. We’ll discuss how different stakeholders can collaborate to integrate these principles into AI development and deployment. Through examples from our EdTech development, attendees will gain practical strategies to embed ethical AI principles that support pedagogy, enhance trust, and transform educational environments responsibly.
The evolution of the digital infrastructures is a never-ending journey, aimed to better and better serve their users, and whenever possible to pre-empt their needs. But what are the current and future scenarios that the NREN community is facing? What are the factors that are playing a role in shaping our environment, when seen from the point of view of someone that deals with our user community needs as his day-to-day job? This talk will try to raise the attention of our community on these matters and what could be their impact on the NREN community.
As we approach the day when quantum computers could potentially decrypt our communications in an instant, securing our data transmissions against such attacks becomes crucial. This presentation will demonstrate how BeQCI, a consortium of which Belnet is a key member, plans to leverage the latest advancements in MDI-QKD to deliver on-demand quantum-secure keys across a star network, but also the drawback that are attached to the technology.
This presentation focuses on the deployment of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) within the infrastructure of national research and education networks (NRENs), addressing the growing need for quantum-safe communication as quantum computing advances. It highlights the integration of QKD technologies, including DV and MDI-QKD solutions from various vendors, into a real-world testbed to assess scalability and operational feasibility. The session will explore the technical challenges of deploying QKD, such as network integration, distance limitations, and vendor interoperability, and share lessons from the SURF QKD testbed deployment. Attendees will gain insights into the potential for NRENs to lead the transition to quantum-secure networks, ensuring the protection of sensitive research and education data against future quantum threats
As long-term GEANT partners (Latnet/Sigmanet), the authors present a new complementary initiative quantum communications. An experimental QKD technology and its integration into conventional communication networks, including PQC, have been developed and tested. Authors present/discuss the experience of national QKD backbone deployment at the conference. The project is realized in collaboration with partners from Latvia's state sector and industry.
A brief look behind the curtain of web-based federated Single Sign On to uncover some of the reasons what Trust means, where it can go wrong, and why it's so important that everyone involved understands and holds up their end of the arrangement.
Networks are like bad roommates — they let the wrong people in and don’t notice until it’s too late. Unlike traditional security — which trusts insiders by default — Zero Trust always demands proof, following the principle "Never trust, always verify". Zero Trust doesn’t just react to threats; it proactively prepares defenses to minimize damage and contain the impact. It’s the bodyguard you need to ensure your roommate doesn’t let in anyone with malicious intentions in or, if they do, the damage is isolated to a single room, preventing consequences for the entire residence.
This lightning talk introduces RNP's innovative digital document signing service that addresses longstanding challenges in digital signature adoption. Traditional digital signature solutions often require complex key management, expensive hardware tokens, and complicated verification processes. Our approach generates unique signing certificates for each document, eliminating key storage concerns while ensuring 100-year validity. The service leverages blockchain technology to protect against quantum computing attacks while maintaining compatibility with legacy systems. Federation-based authentication through CAFe enables seamless access for the research and education community without requiring pre-issued certificates. This talk will demonstrate how this streamlined approach dramatically lowers barriers to secure digital signing while actually enhancing security, making it particularly valuable for NRENs seeking to provide trusted digital services to their communities.
In an era of rising cyber threats, NRENs must continuously strengthen their security posture. But how can organizations that are lacking on time, people or budget rapidly upskill their teams, foster collaboration, and implement best practices effectively? Security Bootcamps !! a proven model, hands-on, high-impact training tailored to the unique needs of NRENs. Our past bootcamps have been incredibly successful, equipping participants with practical skills, peers and real-world experiences, and stronger security mindsets. Now, we are looking to expand this initiative to reach the entire NREN community and ensure that no organization is left behind in the fight against cyber threats.
Passkeys have been around for a few years now, so the biggest question is: why should you consider implementing them if you haven’t already? Passkeys are a username and password replacement, allowing end users to log in using biometrics, among other options. They represent a simpler and more secure solution for those using personal devices.
At Feide (Norway), we deliver the national solution for secure login in education and research in Norway. Here, there is a significant presence of major cloud vendors, particularly Microsoft. Many companies use Entra ID as an SSO solution, which already includes a passkey option. So, why would we go through the effort of implementing it ourselves?
Often times NRENs forget the fact that they are connected to a valuable resource that they don’t use. University students and staff. Some of the best talents are just within reach. How about we start using those connections and use them for making the institutions more secure?
That’s the concept of the one-day event that SURF and Switch carried out. Whether HALON (Hack ALl the EDucation) or the Swiss equivalent ROESTI (Report Open and Explotable Security Threats and Issues) both follow the same concept: Invite ethical hackers from the community for a one day event where they try to find as many vulnerabilities as possible, following the principles of Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure. This not only empowers the future generations of security experts but also brings them closer to the universities. We believe that both sides can profit.
Showcasing the Jisc (UK) and KENET (Kenya) partnership, this six-month project focuses on knowledge exchange and connecting digitally excluded communities to research and education. We'll share how we have extended eduroam through innovation with mobile data and LEO/GEO satellite technologies.
We'll share our journey, challenges, and successes in enhancing connectivity and educational opportunities. Through fostering a sustainable, long-term relationship we hope sharing our work will inspire future global NREN collaboration.
Silos in IT (where teams work in isolation) slow down innovation, create inefficiencies, and hinder collaboration. These silos often emerge when developers, operations, and security teams work independently, leading to misalignment, bottlenecks, and friction. As a result, software delivery is delayed, system reliability suffers, and security is often an afterthought rather than an integral part of the development process.
DevOps isn’t just about automation, it’s a cultural shift that transforms how teams collaborate. It fosters a mindset of shared responsibility, continuous improvement, and streamlined workflows. DevOps breaks down traditional silos, ensuring that development, operations, and security teams work together rather than against each other. By embracing DevOps, IT teams can reduce friction, accelerate innovation, and create more resilient systems.
When we start a relationship with a new research institution, we are often met with skepticism by the IT manager and the researchers. The first believes that there is no one better than him to understand his own institution, after all he is the local security hero who needs to protect his kingdom from intruders. The researchers, on the other hand, are extremely independent and creative in their solutions for transferring data to his partners around the world (We’ve heard recently that some of them still transfer data physically using bus/plane to transport hard drives.). So, theoretically, they don't need us to support their job. On the other hand, we must adjust our NREN’s cyberinfrastructure and services in order for them to improve the performance of their massive scientific data transfer.
The solution we found was precisely to use scientific thinking to shorten this barrier. We drew up a process organized in stages to introduce ourselves. We started with online meetings with the IT manager, in which we asked about the challenges faced in transferring massive volumes of scientific data over our network. After a few meetings in which we gradually discuss their greatest problems, our relationship is established and we invite the researchers of the most demanding use cases to unravel the mystery of their scientific workflow. Hence, we start to collaboratively design the architecture (equipment, configuration and security policies) enable them to experiment a high-performance scientific network. We believe that the secret to success in this construction is sharing the context, building the relationship in an incremental and structured way, like scientific thinking, which allows us to break the ice with even the most suspicious scientists.
This lightning talk will present real-world deployment scenarios for NRENs and the transformative potential of a solar-powered eduroam node. More than just a green solution, this node provides a resilient, scalable, and inclusive technology that is redefining eduroam's reach. Join us to discover how this innovation is not only growing NRENs and greening eduroam but also changing lives in underserved areas, one connection at a time.
We will show how NRENs can expand digital access to remote and underserved areas without relying on traditional power grids. It all started with an idea that was born at the Uganda NREN RENU: to develop a solar powered eduroam node which can work with all kinds of upstream infrastructures like 3G, 4G and 5G mobile infrastructures. RENU developed a solar-powered node that provides a groundbreaking solution, not just for sustainability but for resilient, inclusive, and adaptable connectivity.
This lightning talk highlights the need for ‘green networking’ through energy efficiency and optimizing network infrastructure and design for sustainability. The topic ‘From Dark to Green’ stems from the recent South Africa (SA) national energy (load-shedding) crisis, the effect it had on the SA National Research and Education Network (SA NREN) infrastructure and its beneficiary community, and a look into actions and further considerations for sustainability. Collegiality and shared ownership of the NREN had been a model that served the SA NREN community well for the better part of the last two decades. Unfortunately, frequent load-shedding upsets this balance. While some institutions can fund alternative electricity generation, others simply cannot. Most institutions worked closely with their facilities department to optimise the data centre, adjust procurement for frequent generator costs, and plan accordingly to accommodate load-shedding stages. As an NREN, actions such as bolstering backup power solutions in critical areas, network augmentation and the bypass of problem sites through patch-throughs and optical bypasses were implemented. Further network protocols and design improvements were implemented alongside resource optimization strategies through virtualization and consolidation. With no ease in load shedding, as a community, further discussions around renewable energy sources, power purchase agreements, and other regional solutions were investigated to find creative ways to minimize the impact on institutions’ research, teaching and learning activities.
Nepal’s Himalayas are experiencing rapid glacier retreat, rising temperatures, and increasing climate risks like glacial lake outburst floods, making them highly vulnerable to climate change. Despite its critical role in climate research, Nepal’s Research and Education Network (REN) remains largely underutilized, limiting its contribution to global climate studies.
This talk presents an opportunity and a call to action for global research communities and developed NRENs to support Nepal by building research partnerships for climate studies in the Himalayas. Strengthening these collaborations not only helps tackle the urgent climate crisis but also helps improve REN utilization for research activities, a persistent challenge for many emerging NRENs, including NepalREN. By leveraging REN for climate science, we can demonstrate its vital role in addressing one of humanity’s greatest challenges.
In a world where open science and HPC projects are becoming increasingly intertwined and are driving the need for new and more demanding infrastructure, we are obligated to go about this in a sustainable way and ensure that the supercomputing centres and data repositories will be used to build a greener future.
For the past two years, Arnes HackathON has been joining the values of open science and HPC infrastructure to give students the chance to co-create their own sustainable future by following the UNESCO SDGs in their models, applications and ideas, which they also learned to publicly present in an attractive and understandable manner.
The challenges addressed the most relevant and current issues in Slovenia, like climate change, social justice, sustainable energy, and food scarcity. We promoted interdisciplinarity in the teams spanning more than 200 students in the two editions, and put focus on including social sciences like sociology, pedagogy and linguistics.
Effective IT solutions have grown into complex systems that provide services with requirements from a variety of stakeholders. Tales of FEII is a story-driven presentation from the perspective of an NREN, namely Sunet in Sweden, on how such systems can be implemented and improved over time by applying four core values to everything they do: Function, Efficiency, Innovation & Integration.
A function represents the fundamental deliverables of services, provided by implementing essential functionality, covering the majority of the stakeholder requirements. Efficiency is not only required to scale a solution to a certain size but also to remain performant or to use as few (human) interactions as possible to achieve a certain task. Some like to describe those through nonfunctional requirements or other KPIs. Innovation is needed when stakeholders have requirements that have not yet been implemented by the vendor, often requiring a careful assessment of the known unknowns. Integration is the often underestimated effort to combine standalone functionality into a seamlessly integrated solution.
We will walk you through the four core values of FEII by providing representative examples, elaborating further on how one can apply them to their own projects, and how IT solution providers can use them to prioritise some of their development efforts.
Across the world, the digital transformation of higher education is accelerating—but not necessarily in ways that benefit institutions or students. In the US, commercial platforms dominate, embedding vendor lock-in into the core of learning infrastructures. China takes a centralized, government-driven approach, consolidating education under state-controlled digital platforms. India is rapidly scaling government-backed digital universities, while the Global South struggles with dependencies on external platforms, creating long-term vulnerabilities.
In Europe, we face a choice. The Competitiveness Compass and Union of Skills initiatives aim to strengthen Europe’s digital position, but policy alone isn’t enough. Universities must take an active role in shaping their own digital ecosystem, ensuring that technology serves education—not the other way around.
This talk will cut through the buzzwords of digital transformation and focus on the real question: who controls the future of higher education’s digital infrastructure? Using examples from the EduXS project and the Digital Education Hub’s interoperability work, it will illustrate how universities can reclaim their digital sovereignty through open standards, interoperability, and collective governance.
This is a call to action: if institutions don’t set their own agenda, someone else will do it for them. And we as NRENs are there to help.
We all want a more secure Internet, but what if our best security practices are silently breaking connectivity? As NRENs and providers implement MANRS, an unintended consequence is emerging—hidden routes that go unnoticed until they disrupt traffic and drive up costs. How can we fix this without compromising security?
My talk will highlight the issues GÉANT faced in identifying and mitigating the effects of hidden routes, demonstrating why and how other providers and NRENs should detect, analyse, and mitigate hidden routes within their own networks, helping them avoid the pitfalls GÉANT encountered.
Stateful network applications such as firewalls, VPNs, and intrusion detection systems depend on frequent memory access. However, traditional computer architectures struggle to scale effectively under the high throughput demands of modern networks. The primary bottleneck is unsurprising—high memory latency and limited memory bandwidth, which greatly constrain overall performance.
By leveraging FPGA acceleration, we can revolutionise the architecture of high-performance stateful applications, achieving unmatched scalability, efficiency, and real-time processing capabilities. For research networks, ISPs, and cybersecurity infrastructures, this means faster, more adaptive systems capable of handling ever-growing network demands with minimal latency and maximal flexibility.
Anyone working on networking applications sooner or later faces the challenge of making things faster. There is just so much you can do as you patiently wait at your socket for a packet to go layer by layer up the network stack. But what if you didn't have to? Let me introduce you to XDP, a lightweight and highly flexible framework for fast packet processing that is already a part of your Linux kernel.
At Cesnet, we set out to expand our Cesnet Network Development Kit platform with XDP, curious to see if it could match the performance of DPDK and our proprietary solution while using only the tools already available to everyone in their Linux distribution. What we found is a powerful technology that bypasses the kernel network stack and gives you absolute control over the packet processing from the moment the packet arrives on the network card while using the tools you might already be familiar with as a Linux programmer.
In this talk, I'll break down how XDP could help you create high-performance, flexible network applications that can run on nearly any Linux distribution across a wide range of supported hardware.
Judging jump rope freestyle routines at the highest competitive level has become increasingly challenging due to the evolution of jump rope. Both the number of skills that are included in a routine as well as the speed with which these are executed keep increasing. This is particularly evident in so-called Double Dutch Freestyle routines, which is why assigning scores to these freestyles is done by a combination of live and delayed evaluation. The creativity of a routine (including its variation and musicality) is scored in real time, but the assignment of the appropriate difficulty level is done based on a recording of the routine replayed at half speed right after it is performed. Even though this helps reduce errors in difficulty scoring, a certain variability in the assigned scores persists/can still be seen. To make the objectivity in scoring more robust in Gymnastics, Fujitsu collaborates sinds 2017 with the International Gymnastic Federation to develop a Jury Support System (JSS). The results were first introduced at the 2019 Artistic Gymnastics World Championship being the first in the field. Since then, even more accessible AI tools, better computational resources, and pre-trained models have emerged. Inspired by this example and others such as sign-language recognition, or NextJumps speed counter (2023), which outperforms judges in counting speed steps, this study sets out to explore the creation of an AI jump rope assistant capable of recognizing skills based on video recordings, which is different from the sensory input the JSS is using.
The current idea is divided into three independent modular sections, as a simple but rather unique composition. The first section involves localizing the jumpers in the field as most obtained recordings are not fully zoomed in or recorded using a static camera. This means jumpers can be cropped, sparing computational resources. Using Ultralytics latest YOLO version provides satisfying cropping results. While they are not perfect yet, focus is put on the second and third sections, namely skill segmentation and skill recognition.
By integrating state-of-the-art action recognition AI models such as temporal convolutional networks, convolutional networks using attention, or video vision transformers, full recordings can be split into multiple skills, which mostly means splitting the video by leaving or landing on the floor. Processing these predicted action segments, each split should contain one identifiable skill, which can be predicted using the same model or the best model for skill recognition.
In case it works, it is not only useful for jump rope freestyles but also applicable in other judge-related competitions such as gymnastic routines, figure skating, or synchronized swimming. Meanwhile it is usable or adaptable for educational environments, research on movement analysis, or rehabilitation centers keeping track of a patient's evolution.
Using its modularity, training can be done through distributed systems, and in case better models show up for a single module, it can be replaced separately.
The development of AI is transforming all the core activities of higher education institutions (HEIs), with its risks and opportunities manifesting at different scales depending on the context. As AI evolves rapidly, understanding its impacts is also constantly developing, yet discussions can be challenging due to the overlap of technological, ethical, societal, economic, and practical perspectives. Moreover, distinguishing between short-term effects, temporary or solvable changes, and long-term challenges remains difficult.
The AITO Framework (AI in Innovation, Research, and Education), developed by CSC – IT Center for Science, is a tool designed to help higher education institutions navigate the AI-driven transformation. Shaped through joint discussions with Finnish HEIs, the framework provides a structured approach to understanding how AI impacts the core functions of universities – research, education, partnerships, and support services. It covers changes of different scales and time spans.
The AITO Framework can be used in multiple ways to guide and enrich discussions within HEIs, networks, and among different stakeholders as they reflect on AI’s impact and manage the change. It serves as a reference point for strategic planning and supports deeper conversations about the sustainable use of AI in the future.
This lightning talk will offer a brief introduction to the framework and consider the potential role of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in facilitating joint discussions and training on AI-driven change in HEIs, its management, both nationally and across borders.
Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Cernter has been involved in supporting cultural heritage and digital humanities sector for more than 20 years now. One of the recent developments, in collaboration with the Poznań City Hall and Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU), is an online platform for supporting activities of various institutions in the plain language context. The main goal of the platform is to simplify official communication (e.g. letters) sent out by local governments or companies to their audience (citizens, clients). The platform, called Proste pismo (Simple writing) was created as a database of official texts to be simplified in the language layer using semi-automated mechanism based on dictionary of simplified phrases. With time new features has been added, such as templates of documents, a dictionary of complex phrases, and an AI (artificial intelligence) module to automate the whole process. The AI module provides simplification for a given text fragment using relevant LLM model. Initially the model used in the AI module was based on BART, however, in subsequent developments and based on executed experiments, the Polish LLM Bielik model has been added. In BART case the basic LLM is trained based on relevant set of training documents prepared by the language experts from AMU. It is worth mentioning that the data processed by the models is not shared outside the service, i.e. the processing part is integrated in the platform. In addition, the results of simplification are processed using the Pisarek index (readability score for Polish language) and the Fog index, both being related to each other. Using other language model in the context of Proste Pismo is possible after appropriate training and parameterization. An important note is also to remember that the task of the AI model is not to replace the human (user) actions, but only to support them. Because of possible errors and hallucinations, any result obtained using AI should be verified by a human, especially in such a sensitive task as communication.
Difficult conversations are inevitable—but they don’t have to be awkward or anxiety-inducing. In this five-minute talk, we’ll cover quick tips for navigating tough discussions with confidence and clarity. From setting the right tone to staying calm under pressure, you’ll learn how to address uncomfortable topics while maintaining relationships and achieving productive outcomes. Whether it’s giving feedback, delivering bad news, or handling conflict, this talk will equip you with practical tools to make hard conversations easier (and maybe even a little less painful).
What do the EURO banknotes and the GÉANT community have in common? This will be the subject of this talk. Taking the audience on a short "tour of time," I wish to showcase the importance of access (windows and doorways) and connectivity (bridges) through time (transformation) as a means to Unite in Diversity.
Used in 20 Member States, and being the world's second reserve currency; the EURO is one of the clearest tangible results of the European Union, and a true example of European compromise. Still, albeit changing hands each day few observe it in detail. Banknotes depict windows and doorways on one side to symbolise openness and cooperation and bridges on the other to symbolise communication between the people of Europe and the rest of the world. As it features seven architectural eras but no concrete structures, the banknotes reflect on the transformation of Europe's cultural, universal heritage, accumulated into the motto of the European Union, 'United in Diversity'.
Similarly, the GÉANT and the NREN networks are used every day. They open windows and build bridges seamlessly over time, facilitating the digital transformation of the Research and Education sector. As the fiat currency, the GÉANT community is also built on trust.
In this talk, I will draw from my personal experience—transitioning from a career as an architectural engineer to working in community and stakeholder management. Reflecting on my current role at GÉANT in partner relationship management, I will explore how designing physical structures has evolved into designing meaningful connections between people and organizations—and why these are often more important than bricks and mortar.
Expanding on the timeless metaphor of building bridges, I will highlight the often unseen work of partnership and community building and its vital role in the ecosystem of R&E networks. I will zoom in on the concept of trust as the building matter of the GÉANT community and proceed to outline a reading of it as an action-enabling factor and a determinant of organizational resilience, especially in the context of our community's diversity.
By using metaphor as both a technique and a lens, this talk aims to make the less tangible aspects of our work more concrete and visible.
Submarine fibre cables are the invisible yet crucial part of global communication. Beyond the original purpose, the same cables are becoming luminous threads enabling us to discover the fascinating world beneath the waves. Join the Bright Cables session to explore how the submarine cable infrastructures are evolving into powerful scientific tools, sensing the pulse of our planet in real time. We will be highlighting how data movers are becoming data generators, from Polar Connect’s strategic potential in harsh and unexplored environments to the SUBMERSE project’s transformative vision of turning network into proof-of-concept environmental observatory. Become a part of the growing, collaborative community illuminating the ocean’s hidden dynamics—seismic shifts, marine life, and other interesting things—with each bright strand of cable lighting the path to the future.
This talk is about three interlinked stories about how a community was formed within our midst. The stories concern the SUBMERSE project, a novel EC funded research project which aims to turn our network from a data mover to a data generator. The project didn't start as a solid concept, rather is was an evolution of an idea, iterated over time, through the hard work and dedication of multiple people. Now with 25, soon to be 26 project partners, the SUBMERSE community continues to grow. This is a call to action to join this growing community at an opportune moment in the evolution of the concept.
In the depths of our oceans, a technological revolution is unfolding. Fiber optic submarine cables are evolving from mere data highways to dynamic environmental sensors, unlocking unprecedented scientific opportunities. SUBMERSE harnesses Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) to monitor marine life, seismic activity, and vessel traffic in real-time, enhancing research and infrastructure security. Our solution streamlines data collection, providing actionable insights that enhance environmental understanding and infrastructure resilience. Together, we support sustainable development and advance scientific discovery, creating a network that generates valuable insights for the benefit of all.
Emerging technologies utilizing fiber optic submarine cables present novel research opportunities across diverse scientific fields. Studies have also shown considerable operational and security advantages, not only for the cable itself, but also in its vicinity. This presentation will provide a review of several relevant technologies and their uses, particularly highlighting their significance for Polar Connect.
This session will explore key aspects of infrastructure orchestration in NRENs, focusing on automation and management strategies. Topics that will be discussed include simulation and monitoring of network changes, orchestration practices within Europe’s leading research networks, highlighting successful implementation and the lessons learned. Finally, we’ll try to outline future initiatives and advancements in orchestration for NRENs, offering a forward-looking perspective on emerging technologies and strategies. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how orchestration can enhance network efficiency, reliability, and scalability. The session will also encourage discussions on the role of automation in shaping the future of collaborative research infrastructures. This session promises to offer a comprehensive view of orchestration in the context of scientific networking, with a focus on innovation and future trends.
The GÉANT Orchestration and Automation Team (GOAT) presents 2 of its tools, aimed primarily at network operators, but also suitable for academic environments: Containerlab-as-a-Service, a management stack to easily replicate production-like networking environments; and Moodi, a real-time telemetry tool that provides on-demand telemetry with dynamic dashboards and custom metrics.
Our presentation will highlight the procedural changes made at GÉANT to enable the packet layer migration of all routing equipment in the GÉANT backbone network. We will highlight the importance of working in cross-disciplinary teams, the challenges that come with this and how we have overcome them. We will present how both backbone and NREN-facing services are migrated via the GÉANT Automation Platform (GAP), including an overview of the architecture of the GAP platform, as well as an in-depth explanation on how migration workflows are put into practice. The presentation will also include an update of the status of the network, and of the transition to new Nokia platform. We believe this will be of interest for the TNC audience, as we will show not only how GÉANT is migrating its network services, but also how we are achieving this within a team combining expertise across multiple domains and by using a software platform developed in cooperation with our community.
SURF has fully orchestrated its network and is now advancing NOC efficiency by integrating real-time data and automating daily operations. In 2025, SURF will begin migrating its fully orchestrated SURFnet8 to SURFnet ∞, facing challenges in leveraging growing telemetry data and AI-driven network management. This talk explores the evolution of SURF's orchestration stack, how the number of datasources (OSS/BSS) influences the efficacy of our NOC, the role of AI in network operations, and the broader impact on NRENs adopting automation. It aims to inspire collaboration, share use cases, and foster discussions on how Automation & Orchestration can use AI and a high level of integration with OSS/BSS to lighten the workload for NOC engineers.
The session will aim to equip you with practical and actionable steps to get ready for a crisis in the cybersecurity field. We’ll start with looking at an example where practical cybersecurity and (cyber-)security education come together to create an innovative security education service. We’ll continue by sharing insights in developing a method for Cyber Risk Assessment, enhancing risk assessment capabilities within the research and education ecosystem. We will also explore key Marketing and Communications strategies for managing crises such as network outages and cybersecurity incidents, helping to mitigate reputational damage and foster resilience resilience in today’s challenging digital landscape.
Luxembourg Cybersecurity 4 Research & Education (LuCySe4RE) or LuCy in short, is a two-fold cybersecurity project funded by the European commission and is a perfect example how practical cybersecurity and (cyber-)security education join forces to provide a new security education service to the Luxembourgish research and education community (and beyond). In this presentation we will show the educational perspective of the LuCy project and the security education outcomes of the first year.
Although there are security services, guided by well-established policies and procedures; Risks is a hard process to implement and use. In view of this, the RNP created a project to standardize the way cybersecurity risks are assessed and improving the cyber protection is provided for corporate system components and for the research and education environment. This proposal aims to share the methodology developed, with the improvements made based on validations in the form of pilots, so that the research and teaching community can take the risk vision to the leadership, and then implement it.
My presentation outlines on how National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) can effectively manage communication during crises such as network outages, cybersecurity incidents, and service disruptions by using Marketing and Communications (Marcom) strategies. It emphasizes the importance of timely, strategic messaging to maintain stakeholder trust and minimize reputational damage, providing a framework for developing a crisis communication plan tailored to NREN needs. The session will cover essential components like message templates, coordination between teams, and special considerations for cybersecurity incidents, while offering practical guidance on using digital tools for stakeholder engagement. It will also highlight the proactive use of communication to shape public perception and turn crises into opportunities for building resilience and trust, aligning with the TNC25 theme of "Brighter Together."
As an NREN, a working group, or as an individual, we do a lot of things: we create, engage, connect, inspire, collaborate, fix, work, break, learn, innovate, support, solve problems, adapt, grow, win, and sometimes fail. In this session you will learn how to share our successes more effectively and examples how it has been done right. By doing this, we can make sure our hard work gets noticed and has a bigger impact and becomes more visible, helping us build a stronger and more connected digital community.
NREN sustainability relies on effective stakeholder engagement. Drawing from RENU’s experiences, this presentation explores strategies to build trust, secure partnerships, and expand impact. Aligned with TNC's 'Brighter Together' theme, it offers actionable insights to strengthen relationships, ensure sustainability, and drive inclusive digital transformation in an evolving, competitive environment.
This session celebrates the 10th anniversary of In The Field Stories, a platform that has united the global Research and Education Network community through stories of collaboration and innovation. Reflecting on a decade of impact, the session will explore the blog’s journey and future potential. Attendees will gain insights into its evolution, practical storytelling techniques, and a shared vision for shaping the next chapter of this inspiring tradition.
You are doing amazing work, but are you communicating it effectively? Many ICT professionals focus on their projects without prioritising how to share their results and achievements. This presentation challenges the “work in silence” mindset and demonstrates the value of strategic communication.
This session delves into recent advancements regarding authentication and authorization in the R&E world. It has three speakers from three different continents each with their own topics: improving access to sensitive datasets, describing the transition to a different authentication method for better security and usability and defining phishing-resistant MFA. By listening to the different perspectives of the three continents, we aim to give insight into research access on a global scale.
This presentation explores how the Australian Access Federation (AAF) worked with the CADRE project to streamline access to over 1,000 social science datasets. The project used REMS and CILogon to implement workflows based around the 5-Safes principles to manage access to sensitive datasets. Attendees will learn how leveraging federations and authoritative attribute sources (e.g. ORCiD) can enhance research data access, streamline approvals, and simplify compliance. The session will also cover key challenges, solution components, and the next steps for CADRE’s 2025 launch.
Authentication and authorisation for the High Energy Physics computing grid infrastructure has been based on X.509 certificates since its inception in the early 2000s. In recent years an emphasis has been placed on modernising the stack, facilitating integration with external cloud infrastructure and improving usability and security - all of which have naturally led to a transition to JWT tokens over OAuth2 and OIDC. Important questions are emerging from the operational experience of using tokens - particularly finding an appropriate balance between operations and security. We aim to solve these problems by working together with the wider TNC community (though projects such as AARC-TREE) and complete the migration to token workflows in the coming years. We will share the vision and progress so far.
R&E federations are evolving to meet increasing demands for both strong authentication and verifiable identity assurance. This session will provide an update on the REFEDS MFA Profile Working Group’s efforts to refine authentication assurance, including defining “phishing-resistant MFA.” We’ll also highlight InCommon’s work to align the REFEDS Assurance Framework with evolving research and funding agency requirements. Attendees will gain insight into upcoming changes, practical implementation considerations, and how to get involved in shaping the future of federated identity assurance.
What should our interconnected world of research and education look like from 2025 and beyond? This panel discussion in the closing plenary will explore how shared principles of our community can be preserved amid rapid technological and social change across the globe. It will also examine the evolving role of public R&E, and how diverse world regions can shape their digital futures in mutually beneficial ways. How can public our infrastructures grow, adapt, or transform – and how can our place in the global Internet be safeguarded?
TNC, the largest and most prestigious research and education networking conference, attracts a diverse audience of over 800 participants from more than 70 countries and offers a unique collaborative experience.
Hoekenrode 3
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The Netherlands
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Cambridge CB2 1PQ
United Kingdom
TNC25 is co-funded by Europe’s NRENs and the European Union (EU).
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