In a significant boost to the UK’s research and education sector, Jisc – the country’s digital, data and technology agency focused on tertiary education, research and innovation – has extended its partnership with Neos Networks to create a high-capacity, secure fibre infrastructure that supports the connectivity needs of universities, colleges, research institutions and innovation centres.
A not-for-profit, membership organisation that has offered digital services for UK education and research for more than 30 years, Jisc has the stated mission to lead the UK tertiary education, research and innovation sectors, and says it is on a mission to harness the power of technology and data to transform how knowledge is shared, applied and enhanced.
The Jisc Network Solutions Framework has been set up to offer a compliant, efficient and value-driven route to market for institutions across higher education, further education and UK research.
Structured to deliver the digital infrastructure and shared services that inform, protect and promote UK education and research, Jisc operates Janet, the UK’s national research and education network (NREN), whose frameworks are accessible not only to members, but also to other eligible organisations connected to it, including local authorities, research councils and regional broadband consortia.
As a sovereign network, operating under UK law and governance in the national interest, Janet connects the UK’s education and research community while providing seamless interconnection with international research partners and global NRENs.
Neos believes the demands being placed on this infrastructure are growing rapidly. It said advances in AI, alongside increasingly data-intensive areas of research, mean institutions need to move greater volumes of data between researchers, facilities and computing resources, often in real time. As these workloads grow, the underlying network must be able to scale with them.
Through the 10-year agreement with Neos Networks, Jisc is said to be securing the high-capacity fibre foundation that Neos believes Janet needs to meet this demand over the next decade. As a private network, Janet includes built-in cyber security protection supported by sector-wide intelligence and coordinated response from Jisc. With cyber security embedded in the research network, Janet supports the UK government’s AI strategy emphasis on safety, resilience and responsible deployment.
The scale and resilience of the infrastructure will support continued growth in bandwidth-intensive research and cloud-enabled services, while providing the network capacity needed as technologies including AI and quantum computing continue to evolve.
“Over the next decade, AI, advanced computing and increasingly data-intensive research will drive huge growth in the information institutions, and need to move quickly and securely between people, facilities and computing resources,” said Neos Networks CEO Lee Myall.
“That makes high-capacity, resilient and scalable connectivity increasingly fundamental to the UK’s research ambitions. By extending our partnership with Jisc for another 10 years, we’re helping ensure Janet has the network foundation it needs to keep scaling as those demands evolve, supporting world-leading research and innovation across the UK.”
The 10-year agreement is also designed to give Jisc long-term certainty over the infrastructure underpinning Janet as demand continues to evolve, allowing Jisc to plan for future capacity requirements and enhance the network in step with new technologies and changing user needs.
The importance of this capacity can already be seen in projects such as the Vera C Rubin Observatory in Chile. With 25% of the data generated expected to be managed by the UK, Janet will transmit huge volumes of information to participating UK research sites for analysis. Infrastructure supplied by Neos Networks will help give Janet the capacity and resilience required to support projects of this scale, alongside the next generation of AI-enabled and data-intensive research.
The infrastructure will also support Janet connectivity across regions so that research facilities across the UK can benefit from what is described as “world-class” data transfer technology. Over the course of the contract, the new fibre infrastructure delivered will additionally enable other users to benefit from the technical and security capabilities of Janet, including public sector and government organisations.
Commenting on the deal, Jisc group chief technology officer Bella Abrams said: “This agreement represents a significant milestone for the Janet Network. By extending our partnership with Neos Networks, we are ensuring the long-term stability, scalability and security of the UK’s research and education connectivity. It gives us the foundation to continue innovating and to support the increasingly complex digital needs of the UK’s education and research community.”
