DANTE and UKERNA online Poll for National Science and Engineering Week

Press Release

DANTE AND UKERNA AIM TO IDENTIFY TOP SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES THROUGH NATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING WEEK

 

   Cambridge, UK 09 March 2007 – To coincide with the UK’s National Science and Engineering Week, research and education network providers DANTE and UKERNA have united to gauge public opinion on the top global issues science should be addressing.

A poll will provide the public with the opportunity to express their key concerns on current issues threatening our planet and wellbeing today. The findings will help to identify which issues the public feel requires most urgent scientific research. It will act as a catalyst to drive awareness of the advantages that a ‘global scientific workforce’ can have on achieving faster and more effective results for issues such as global warming and medical research. The poll is available online.

DANTE is the operator of GÉANT2. Reaching over 50,000km across 34 countries, GÉANT2 is the largest research and education network ever built for the European academic community. UKERNA run SuperJANET5, a network that connects over 1000 research and education institutes in the UK. Together these provide powerful network resources that enable UK scientists and researchers to participate in global research.

Dai Davies, General Manager, DANTE says: “Global challenges require global collaboration, both at a political and scientific level. Tackling issues such as climate change requires scientific solutions, not just behavioural change. High speed research networks encourage cross-border collaboration, creating a global scientific community that pools resources for more efficient and effective research.

Jeremy Sharp, Head of Strategic Technologies, at UKERNA agrees: “We must continue to ensure that the underlying infrastructure meets the increasing demands of the research community. With the implementation of SuperJANET5 we are, in collaboration with DANTE, able to provide scientists in the UK with high bandwidth, highly resilient connectivity that enables the sharing of huge amounts of data with their international counterparts. This not only enables the process of scientific research to be speeded up substantially but opens up new means of conducting research.

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About GÉANT2

GÉANT2 delivers the next generation research and education network for Europe. With over 30 million research and education users in 34 countries across the continent, GÉANT2 offers unrivalled geographical coverage, high bandwidth, innovative hybrid networking technology and a range of user-focused services. Its network footprint maps more than 50,000 km and its extensive geographical reach interconnects with other world regions, enabling global research collaboration. GÉANT2’s comprehensive programme of research and service development keeps Europe at the forefront of global research. GÉANT2 is co-funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Research and Development Framework Programme. The project partners are 30 European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), TERENA and DANTE. It is co-ordinated by DANTE, the research networking organisation that plans, manages and builds research networks all over the world. For more information visit www.geant2.net

About UKERNA

UKERNA is responsible for the operation and development of JANET, the UK’s research and education network, and its associated services. Funded by JISC (the Joint Information Systems Committee), JANET is one of the world’s leading research and education networks and has been developed to ensure that its users’ networking requirements are not only met but enhanced through a programme of leading edge developments and services.