The science and research relying on digital communications infrastructure and services are increasingly global and data driven. Approximately 25% of all research traffic that is carried on GÉANT’s European network either originates or is destined to locations outside of continental Europe. Driven by big science projects, such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), Climate research, Earth observation, and the continued evolution of particle physics (including the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)), this traffic is expected to grow at circa 35% per annum for the foreseeable future. The GÉANT Consortium, formed of the GÉANT Association (GÉANT) and 43 national research and education networks (NRENs), is a fundamental element of Europe’s e-infrastructure landscape for the European Research Area and has a long-established and successful track record in securing long-term intercontinental network connectivity in co-ordination with peers worldwide.
Building on the continuing support and commitment of the EC for nearly 30 years, and under the 72-month GN5 Framework Partnership Agreement in Horizon Europe (GN5-FPA), the GN5-IC1 project will plan and implement a new intercontinental connectivity investment programme to further support the European Research and Education community and extend and secure the global reach of the GÉANT network by replacing and updating existing intercontinental connectivity infrastructure.
The project’s goal is to ensure that sufficient network capacity is engineered and put in place through the procurement and implementation of links during the project term and through establishing a medium- to long-term roadmap for future investments beyond the project timeframe. The ambition to develop a long-term plan is key to ensuring the best international connectivity for Europe to other continents over time as traffic grows. The plan will also consider aspects of European data sovereignty, security and confidentiality pertaining to European research and education and in areas beyond basic research such as electronics, climate (HPC), energy and fusion.
The recently expanded GÉANT fibre footprint delivered by the GN4-3N project provides high-capacity network backbone capability across Europe. With this capability and experience, GÉANT is ideally placed to work with subsea cable providers and global telecoms companies to provide the best possible, resilient connections from Europe to all other continents for research and Education, as well as to maximise the value of the links to be procured through innovative contracts to secure reciprocal global peering contributions and increase the impact of the resources available in GN5-IC1.
GN5-IC1's overall objectives are to:
• Extend the reach of network topology and capacity planning to a global scale, considering organic growth and demands from NRENs and research infrastructures delivered worldwide as shared resources, i.e. ITER, SKA, LHC and others.
• Increase resiliency, capacity and control on end-to-end communication.
• Co-ordinate network infrastructure investments in partnership with global NREN peers.
• Make choices and decisions in context with other relevant programmes, such as the EC’s Digital Decade and NDICI, and DGs including the department for International Partnerships (INTPA), Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR), Research and Innovation (RTD), Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS) and European External Action Service (EEAS) Regional Recovery Funds, and investments resulting from new apparatus e.g. the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, ITER and EuroHPC.
• Ensure financial sustainability by finding a balance between extent/reach of investments and the ongoing operational financial commitment that results from them.
