The 8th Joint European Networking Conference

TERENA holds the "8th Joint European Networking Conference" (JENC8) in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Organized by TERENA, Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association

This years conference was truly an international event with over 420 participants from 42 countries world-wide gathering in Edinburgh for what has become the European forum for research and education networking. The JENC8 conference was officially opened by Professor Sir Stewart Sutherland FBA, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. Professor Sutherland's address maintained that it is events such as JENC8 that encourage growth of activity in the networking community as experts in the field meet to discuss experiences and exchange information.

One of the main objectives of the conference was to attract participation from a wide variety of areas and not just the academic world. As a result, more than 20% of the full papers in the programme were submitted by industry. In addition to this, a number of speakers representing various governmental bodies directly involved in European networking participated in the conference. Delegates included experts and professionals from research, industry, academia and related government sectors. This cooperation was further supported by the JENC8 Conference Chairman, David Probert, of Digital Equipment Corp. David Probert commented that as European networking continues to evolve, it is the cooperation of resources and knowledge from the various sectors that will play a vital role in further enhancing Europe's information technology environment.

The high quality programme and broad range of subjects was made possible by the dedication and expertise of the JENC8 Programme Committee, chaired by Hannes Lubich. Three parallel streams offered delegates a wide range of technical subjects and a platform for lively discussions. Keynote presentations and panel discussions with specific focus on topical subjects such as security were included in the programme to stimulate delegate participation. The programme included 48 full papers and 10 short papers on recent results covering aspects such as network technology, distributed applications, security, the next generation of high-speed technologies, commerce, user support, and economical and political issues.

The constant demand for and evolution of new networking technologies such as higher speed networking, security needs and commercialisation were reflected in the sessions, demonstrations and exhibitions presented at the conference. In addition to the traditional parallel sessions, the JENC8 programme included a panel session on Internet 2 and the next generation Internet which presented an outline of initiatives and future developments. The European position was also presented outlining initiatives in Europe and possible links. A second panel sessions was held covering cryptography policy and regulation. Controversial issues summarizing the advantages of a regulated approach versus the privacy rights viewpoint were debated. The technical problems controlling security were also discussed. The Telematics for Research supporting measure SCIMITAR (RE1101) arranged an Open Forum session and demonstrations facilities for Telematics for Research projects. The objectives of these facilities were to publicize the result and findings of the current projects and to receive feedback on the evolving needs of users.

The programme concluded with a keynote speech from Dennis Jennings with the theme "Shifting Paradigms", in which he presented his thoughts on the use of networks for education.

Following the close of the conference, three full day tutorials were given on Internet Security Threats and Technologies, ATM and IP, and The Dynamic Web.

The JENC8 conference was hosted by UKERNA, the United Kingdom Education and Research Networking Association, together with local organization by the University of Edinburgh, and local assistance from Concorde Services Limited. TERENA is grateful for the generous sponsorship and support provided by Digital Equipment Corporation, the main sponsor of this years JENC. Special thanks are also given to the other conference sponsors which included IBM, UKERNA, Bay Networks, Interlynx, Sun Microsystems, and Hamilton Rentals.

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For further press information, please contact:

TERENA Secretariat
Singel 466-468
NL 1017 AW Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 530 4488
Fax: +31 20 530 4499
email:secretariat@TERENA.nl

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