I'm wondering whether Wikimedia has ever considered participating in the Internet2 research network (Wikipedia articlehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet2; official website http://www.internet2.edu).
I had found out about it after reading a news article about how Missouri University changing its 10 Gbit/s connection to 100 Gbit/s. I then read the website and found that Wikimedia's and their missions go together very well; part of it is the commitment to sharing and spreading information. While they are focused on developing new technologies and that isn't exactly Wikimedia's primary focus, I see big potential for Wikimedia to benefit from participation on the network, as it could make our information more accessible to researchers on the network.
When thinking about why Wikimedia wasn't participating, I noticed the costs of membership. Wikimedia would participate as an Affiliate, which according to the membership pagehttp://www.internet2.edu/membership/membership_structure.cfm, consists of "Non-profit organizations that are research- and/or education-oriented, with a strong interest in Internet2's mission and goals. They are committed to promoting the development and deployment of advanced Internet applications and network services in the conduct of research and education." (sounds like us!). For us, as a level 4 affiliate (since our operating budget is certainly below 100 million US dollars a year) , we would pay $10,000/yr.
I previously spoke to Ironholds about this, but neither he nor I know whether the WMF has previously considered it.
Jasper Deng, 12/10/2013 01:53:
I then read the website and found that Wikimedia's and their missions go together very well; part of it is the commitment to sharing and spreading information.
Where did you get this impression? I've read a few pages and to me it just seems the typical research network body. It's easy to see it from their international partners: http://internet2.edu/international/partners/ The only overlap I see is in defending net neutrality http://www.internet2.edu/government/ but it's secondary in their work.
Nemo
From http://www.internet2.edu/about/ I see that they are also focused on
research.
From that, I got the impression that like us, they are committed to the
accessibility of knowledge. They state on their website that without them, many college researchers may not be able to get the information they need.
They can always use their normal connection to access us, but having a direct connection could improve this access.
On Fri, Oct 11, 2013 at 10:28 PM, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemowiki@gmail.comwrote:
Jasper Deng, 12/10/2013 01:53:
I then read the
website and found that Wikimedia's and their missions go together very well; part of it is the commitment to sharing and spreading information.
Where did you get this impression? I've read a few pages and to me it just seems the typical research network body. It's easy to see it from their international partners: http://internet2.edu/**international/partners/http://internet2.edu/international/partners/ The only overlap I see is in defending net neutrality http://www.internet2.edu/**government/http://www.internet2.edu/government/but it's secondary in their work.
Nemo
Jasper Deng, 12/10/2013 19:35:
From http://www.internet2.edu/about/ I see that they are also focused on research.
From that, I got the impression that like us, they are committed to the accessibility of knowledge. They state on their website that without them, many college researchers may not be able to get the information they need.
They can always use their normal connection to access us, but having a direct connection could improve this access.
Direct connection to what? Research networks are among the best positioned in peering points.
Nemo
wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org