PRESS RELEASE Brussels, 2 February 1994 HIGH SPEED NETWORKING SYMPOSIUM: 'Tentative steps towards a Electronic Highway for Europe' The highly successful third symposium on High Speed Networking for research in Europe was held in Brussels today. It was organized by RARE (Reseaux Associes pour la Recherche Europeenne) with support of the European Commission. That there is an increasing need for a debate on high speed networking issues may be concluded from the attendance of this symposium by more than 150 experts from over 24 countries worldwide. The attendees gathered to present and review the status of high speed networking for research in Europe and discuss the future and developments in this field. The majority of the participants came from networking organizations and universities, but also high-level research institutions (CERN, INFN,...), Space laboratories (CNES, NLR,...), governmental organizations, Public Telecommuni- cations Operators and the European Commission were well represented. The speakers came from various networking organizations in the U.S.A., the U.K., France and the Netherlands, Telecom in Finland, KTH Tele-informatics in Sweden, Expertel, Alcatel, CNES and EDF-DER in France. The keynote-address made by Mr. L. Rosello (Head of Unit DG XIII C/3) on behalf of Mr. M. Richonnier (Director of DG XIII/C), emphasized the technological developments relating to Telematic applications in connection with the Fourth Framework Programme and expressed the Commission's support to establish and maintain a research networking infrastructure. Fifteen presentations of high standards added to discussions on topics as: - high speed services plans applied to backbone technology - coordinated ATM testing and services within Europe - existing advanced networking implementations ( wide area high speed networks - SuperJANET) - engineering trans-oceanic 44 Mb/s TCP/IP networks - multimedia experiments in SGN, the Stockholm Gigabit Network - ATM interconnection and crossing European borders - ATM experiments for High Rate Space Telemetry Transportation Focus of the day was on ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) technology; the transmission technique for the coming decennia. The symposium brought together people with practical experience of ATM from the research, Public Networking Organizations and service communities, as well as major commercial user organizations. Examples of on site, intersite and even international testing with ATM were covered, as well as research work related to supporting ATM at higher speeds. Some of the current gaps in ATM implementations were identified, but it was noted that technical specifications in these areas had been, or were being, produced. New in the field of ATM are the experiments that have been made with interconnection and cross-border connections. Particularly the latter are of vital importance to the European situation. As Prof. Bjorn Pehrson (from KTH/SICS) said: "Requirements for bandwith will explode in a few years time". Appropriately Kees Neggers (Director of SURFNet and President of RARE) stressed in his presentation the need for increased international cooperation and funding for the provision of a pan-European Network Service. This plea was taken up by Prof. Paul Van Binst (University of Brussels and RARE Treasurer) in his closing address. He urged the Commission and organizations that are in need of good networking facilities to give "five percent of the European Union's spending on research for the European backbone". The announcement of the fourth symposium on High Speed Networking for research in Europe in 2 years time was received with a warm welcome by all those present. For further information, contact Judith KIERS RARE Secretariat Singel 466-468 NL-1017 AW AMSTERDAM Tel: +31 20 639 1131 Fax: +31 20 639 3289