Plans are being finalized for the Northern Tier Network Consortiumsummer conference, scheduled for July 18-20 in Rosemont, Illinois. The American Indian Higher Education Consortium’s tribal colleges and universities Information Technology Directors meeting will be held in conjunction with the conference.
Personnel from NDSU and the state’s tribal colleges are assisting with the preparations.
As a member of the consortium, Northern Tier Network-North Dakota interacts with the larger research and education network consortium to provide access to advanced technology infrastructure and services specifically benefitting academic and research programs. NTN-ND is an original member of the consortium, and has been engaged in the development and expansion of the regional and national network community for more than two decades.
A recent report by the Center for Digital Education indicates today’s global community increasingly looks to higher education to facilitate and perform leading-edge scientific research. Much of the research conducted at universities depends on the ability to process, store and share massive volumes of data. Across the country, regional technology networks serve as arms of the national technology network interoperating to form a larger whole, called Internet2.
Marc Wallman, NDSU vice president for information technology, said, “the regional connection of the Northern Tier Network Consortium ensures NDSU and its colleagues across the state the ability to leverage the benefits the network community specifically dedicated to serving scholarly and research purposes. This is made possible through a collegial human network of peers across member institutions, all done in a collaborative, rather than competitive environment, where benefits realized by one are realized by all.”
The focus of this year’s conference is strengthening the “community of practice” culture that is a foundation of regional, national and global research and education partnerships. Agenda highlights include updates on national advanced cyberinfrastructure trends and consortium member network upgrades impacting institution-level research and academics.
A CyberRange workshop titled “Security on a Shoestring” also will be presented by Merit Network of Michigan. The workshop will address issues relevant to ensuring adequate technology security resources are operationalized and maintained at the institution level.
For more information about the conference, contact Kim Owen at kim.owen@ndsu.edu.
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