Indiana University and Internet2 Presidents Lead U.S. Delegation to Establish Partnership with India's Government, Education and Technology Leaders

Indiana University (News - Alert) President and Internet2 Board Chair Michael A.
McRobbie and Internet2 President and CEO H. David Lambert will lead a
delegation of U.S. college presidents, chief information officers and
researchers to New Delhi, India on March 20-21 to establish a major
partnership with the National Knowledge Network (NKN), the leading
National Research and Education Network in India.

The U.S. and Indian leaders are partnering to improve research,
education, and economic and social developments regarding education,
technology, Internet freedoms, agriculture, public health, fine arts,
culture, and business.

"Nearly all areas of science and research today rely essentially on
digital technology and are digitally enabled. And the Internet means
that science and research are no longer limited to the borders of one
country but are truly international no matter what the areas. Vital to
international collaborative digital science and research are the high
speed national research and education networks and the essential
connections between them," said McRobbie. "The advanced networking
partnership between Internet2 and the NKN will enable American and
Indian scientists to collaborate in major new ways and use it to drive
new growth and research innovations for generations to come. Indeed, it
promises to have an enormous impact in a wide range of areas that
enhanced the quality of life for people in both of our countries and
around the world."

Internet2 President Lambert said, "U.S. higher education leaders are
forming a partnership with India's major academic and government
institutions to enable the Internet2 Network and India's National
Knowledge Network to provide major transformation through innovation and
support for globally shared research, education, and communications."

During the trip, Internet2 President Lambert, on behalf of the ntire
Internet2 community, will sign a memorandum of understanding with NKN to
establish the partnership between the two organizations. Dr. Rajagopala
Chidambaram, principal scientific adviser to the Indian government, will
lead a presentation on NKN role in India. In addition, Dr. Sam Pitroda,
adviser to the Prime Minister of India, will chair a panel discussion
featuring U.S. and Indian university leaders.

Internet2® is a member-owned advanced technology community founded by
the nation's leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2
provides a collaborative environment for U.S. research and education
organizations to solve common technology challenges, and to develop
innovative solutions in support of their educational, research, and
community service missions.

Internet2 also operates the nation's largest and fastest, coast-to-coast
research and education network, in which the Network Operating Center is
powered by Indiana University. Internet2 serves more than 90,000
community anchor institutions, 250 U.S. universities, 70 government
agencies, 38 regional and state education networks, 80 leading
corporations working with our community and more than 65 national
research and education networking partners representing more than 100
countries.