RNP > RNP News > 2000 News

Brazil participates formally in the Internet2 project

Last March 29, the General Coordinator of the National Research Network, José Luiz Ribeiro Filho and the president of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID), Douglas E. Van Houweling, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The signing took place during the Internet2 Fall Meeting, in which a committee of experts represented Brazil. UCAID is the consortium of American universities that coordinates the development of the Internet2 project in the United States. The signing of this document is the prerequisite for foreign institutions to participate formally in the project and enables the setting up of mutual work agreements aimed at establishing common targets for participating nations. The major goal is to link up advanced networks of nations participating in the Internet2 project. On the Brazilian side, this network will become operational with the deployment of the new national academic backbone, RNP2. The inauguration of RNP2 and its link-up to the Internet2 project are a result of the policies drawn up between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT) to consolidate the partnership via the Information Society Program. This initiative is centered on the utilization of information technology for development with strong ties between the public, academic and private sectors.

Brazil has an Internet technology development program similar to the American one and to those of major nations throughout the world. In this regard, the academic sector has been first in research developments in infrastructure and applications. The Brazilian High Speed Metropolitan Networks (ReMAVs), the consortia headed by universities, are in their final stages of deployment. Several of the 14 ReMAVs already constituted have entered the development stage of advanced applications in areas such as telemedicine, network engineering and videoconferencing, among others.

The RNP2 backbone will enable the nationwide link up of these metropolitan networks, initially with connection speeds of up to 155 Mbps. The infrastructure will satisfy the demand for differentiated networking services and connection speeds compatible with the advanced applications under development. The Brazilian committee sent to Washington was composed of professors Paulo Aguiar (NCE/UFRJ), José Augusto Suruagy (UFPE) and Liane Tarouco (UFRGS). This group undertook to participate in various work units already underway in Internet2 (Qbone, Ipv6, Multicast, and others). As of now, they will coordinate activities in the respective RNP2 project areas. The group should be enlarged in the future so that other areas, such as Health Science, can be included.

With the signing of MoU, Brazil has joined the community of over 30 nations who are formally participating with UCAID and who create the leading edge in Internet development the world over. The list includes nations in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Scandinavia.

[RNP, April 05, 2000]

The president of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID), Douglas E. Van Houweling and the General Coordinator of the National Research Network, José Luiz Ribeiro Filho, at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), in Washington.

[RNP, 04.05.2000]