Future Internet Research & Experimentation

FIRE - Future Internet Research & Experimentation

The Internet is now much more than it was ever envisaged to be. Rather than simply a communication system, it has become the backbone of modern society. For many it is inconceivable to live life without being 'connected'. New and unexpected applications and services are emerging from cutting-edge technological developments that shape the requirements for future ones. The growth of the Internet is strictly interwined with socio-economic, environmental and cultural developments.

The Internet is consequently a complex and evolving entity where any technological development, no matter how small, may have multifaceted and even unexpected consequences. Any consideration of new ways to approach the Internet from the most fundamental level simply cannot be limited to paperwork. It requires early experimentation and testing in large-scale environments, even though some of these ideas might only be implemented in the long-term.

FIRE is associated with ICT objective 1.6 of WP2011-2012 including a new subject 1.6d on Internet Science.

The Future Internet Research and Experimentation - FIRE - Initiative is addressing this need, creating a multidisciplinary research environment for investigating and experimentally validating highly innovative and revolutionary ideas for new networking and service paradigms. FIRE is promoting the concept of experimentally-driven research, combining visionary academic research with the wide-scale testing and experimentation that is required for industry. FIRE also works to create a dynamic, sustainable, large scale European Experimental Facility, which is constructed by gradually connecting and federating existing and upcoming testbeds for Future Internet technologies.

Ultimately, FIRE aims to provide a framework in which European research on Future Internet can flourish and establish Europe as a key player in defining Future Internet concepts globally. With a strong network focus, the first wave of FIRE projects was launched in summer 2008, with a budget of 40 million Euro and each year sees this increasing along with the scope of the projects.

Starting from summer 2010, a second wave of projects with a budget of 50 million Euro is significantly expanding the scope of FIRE, moving it in new directions taking on technologies such as sensor networks, clouds and also high level service architectures.

In 2011 a third wave of Integrated Projects and a Network of Excellence in Internet Science have been selected for launch during summer. Call 8 will be open soon for additional projects.