TERENA --- European Telecommunication on INTERNET ---

Something new in Europe for INTERNET communications... Howard

- - The original note follows - -

Resent-From: Marco Sommani +39 50 593313 <SOMMANI@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Resent-To: nis-news@xxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 11:36:37 +0100
To: terena-ga@xxxxxxx, wg-all@xxxxxxx, newsletters@xxxxxxx, ceec@xxxxxxx,
ripe@xxxxxxxx, singel-staff@xxxxxxx
From: kiers@xxxxxxx
Subject: TERENA press release
Sender: owner-nis-news@xxxxxxxxxxx


Marco Sommani Phone: +39-50-593313
CNUCE - Istituto del CNR Fax: +39-50-904052
Via Santa Maria 36 Telex: 500371 - CNUCE
56126 Pisa - Italy E-mail: sommani@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Press Release, Amsterdam 20 October 1994

TERENA: Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association

.... a new initiative to promote a Global Information Society ...


Europe has recently launched the concept of the Global Information Society.
According to the Bangeman Report: 'Preparing Europeans for the advent of
the information society is a priority task. Education, training and promotion
will necessarily play a central role'

The concept of the 'Electronic Superhighway', has spread all over the globe.
Increasingly the European public at large has been informed, and is becoming
more and more interested. Individuals want to become actively involved in
this new electronic world called the Internet.

Building on this trend two European organizations - RARE (Reseaux Associes
pour la Recherche Europeenne) and EARN (European Academic and Research
Network) - have been working towards this ideal.
For ten years these two organisations have been actively promoting
networking standardization, organizing technical working groups,
providing network services, coordinating international projects and
promoting the interests of all European service providers for the
Academic and Research community.

Now, RARE and EARN have decided tomerge into one new organization:
TERENA.

TERENA's aim is to
'promote and participate in the development of a high quality international
information and telecommunications infrastructure for the benefit
of research and education'

To achieve this goal, TERENA will:

- work towards the elimination of technical barriers by
the co-ordination of standards and operational procedures
and the free exchange of technical information

- provide education, documentation and support services for
users of international networks

- coordinate improvements of international communications traffic

- organize conferences, meetings, and workshops
to promote and improve international networking

- provide round table discussions with governments,
standard bodies, telecommunications operators and industry

- undertake projects to develop new pan-European services
required by the membership

Already, RARE and EARN individually have strong track records in these
areas. TERENA has been established to expand these activities further
and to widen participation in European networking. Together, RARE and
EARN can develop a high-speed networking infrastructure that will bring
Europe effortlessly into the information world.

TERENA's membership at its inception on 20 October consists of
representative organizations from 38 countries and two International
Treaty organizations (CERN and ECMWF).

The combined strengths of RARE and EARN will be augmented by well-known
international corporations, for instance IBM and Digital Equipment have agreed
to join TERENA as Associate Members to help make TERENA the powerhouse
for development of European research networking.

On October 21 TERENA elected its Executive Committee:

Frode Greisen, President (Denmark)
Marco Sommani, Treasurer (Italy)
Bernhard Plattner, Vice-President Conferences (Switzerland)
Sven Tafvelin, Vice-President Technical Programme (Sweden)
Steve Druck, Vice-President Services (Israel)
Peter Bakonyi, member (Hungary)
Brian Gilmore, member (U.K.)
Paul Van Binst, member (Belgium)
Peter Rastl, member (Austria)


(This document can also be read as a World Wide Web-page
http://www.rare.nl/terena-press.html)
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