Convening, Collaborating, and Partnering

The Internet2 community continues to benefit from learning from one another and leveraging successful processes and solutions through awareness building, working together, sharing experiences and knowledge, and transforming those outcomes into tangible benefits for the entire community. As such, Community Engagement will: 

1. Continue to deliver exceptional anchor events (Community Exchange and Technology Exchange ) and:
   1. Get ahead in setting locations and dates beyond 2024
   2. Continue to involve the community and stakeholders in the programming and content through active participation in program committee(s) and working groups that are engaged in the development of the programs for these events.
   3. Initiate a process for the potential expansion of these events to be more inclusive of additional stakeholder groups.
2. Upon prioritization of stakeholders, CE will evaluate and plan for new approaches to more fully engage those stakeholders (and cross-groups) in possibly new regional and more local events and through revamping offerings through I2online virtual events.
   1. We will work with the CE PAG and other PAGs and community groups and internally to evaluate cost models that are sensitive to the needs and desires of the communities that will be part of these events.
3. CE will take an active role in continually managing relationships, ensuring organizations are involved in and apprised of the persistent evolution of Internet2 services, solutions, and engagement opportunities.
   1. CE will develop a new member/participation welcome “kit” and personal engagement with any new members.
      i. Ensure that at least 1-2 phone calls or zoom meetings take place with each new member and that at least 1 time per year, a member is offered a review of their annual engagement and needs from and with Internet2.
   2. CE will work with other units at Internet2 to better track community interests and facilitate connecting individuals as they join the community.
       i. CE staff will work to examine potential new ways to engage new members, including exploring creating new member cohort calls (at least 1 per year) to orient new members on their Internet2 membership and services. With new CE staff, we may also set in motion enhanced approaches to support members with similar interests coming together.
   3. CE will plan and launch a member satisfaction survey for all members.  This survey will be developed with a 3rd party and with input from the executive leadership, leadership staff and as needed CE PAG and other external groups to inform a simple and effective survey and assessment.
      i. Data and findings from the survey will be shared with the community in an open and transparent fashion.
      ii. CE will work with community stakeholders and PAGs to get their feedback and ideas on potential recommendations moving forward.
      iii. CE will work internally with other units to evaluate any improvement(s) or areas to address and will work cooperatively to address any recommendations that may require budgetary and new investments.
   4. In partnership with other units, ensure that services, solutions, and engagement opportunities are designed to be as inclusive as possible from their inception.
4. CE will strive to work across all of Internet2 service units so that models that support organizational participation in the community are framed, regardless of current capabilities and capacities, focusing instead on needs and aspirations.
   
5. CE will continue to mature and evolve into a more reliable, robust shared services (marketing, communications, digital experience, engagement) organization that support the needs of Internet2 service areas.
   1. CE will identify and procure resources – funding, personnel, and professional services – to ensure robust services and support to address priorities from service units.
   2. CE will develop more mature project and portfolio management capabilities that are integrated with organization-wide project management efforts across the organization to ensure transparency and alignment.
      

1. Through CE and working with other units at Internet2, CE will continue to strengthen the engagement and value with industry, affiliates and other important partners such as the regional and state networks
2. Within Higher education, CE will frame more effectively the value to institutions from its membership that are not very high research activity institutions (R1s). 
3. CE will develop and strengthen engagement with stakeholders through our community events (in person and virtual).
4. CE will foster dialogue and more collaboration between the Internet2 community and minority serving institutions through the Minority Serving – Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) and work together to develop approaches that lead to a better understanding of the needs of these institutions and the opportunities to work with the Internet2 community.

1. 1. CE will lead an effort (task force) to work with other Internet2 units, the CE PAG and others as needed to engage with the MS-CC leadership and community to better understand their needs and areas where Internet2 can provide value. This effort could include the framing of new engagement models to broaden MS-CC campus participation in the Internet2 community.   

      5. CE will develop plans and work with service units to launch more Technical Workshops and expand how they are delivered.  

1. 1. Through these efforts, CE can bring together subject matter experts from Internet2 staff and the community to exchange knowledge and experiences with campus and regional colleagues.  
   2. Explore new venues and at low cost (i.e. regional meetings on campuses). 

In-depth collaboration with state and regional RENs to address advocacy opportunities and the value proposition of the R&E networking ecosystem will be a growing effort. This will lead to more engagements within various communities with broadband activities primarily driven by Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) investments.

To support the important interconnections of the Internet2 network at a global level, we are collaborating with various colleagues, such as U.S.-based international exchange operators and other international research supporters.  In progress are plans to develop the Atlantic Pacific Research and Education Exchange (AP-REX) continental exchange fabric. Upgrades and expansions at AP-REX/Global Exchange points are being implemented, alongside support for international initiatives like the Open Science Data Federation (OSDF) Amsterdam and to increase the Advance North Atlantic capacity.  This cooperation is catalyzing increased interaction among engineers who provide international connectivity.

To identify effective methods of enhancing network operation capabilities and service advancements, partnerships are actively being cultivated. This includes ongoing support and expansion of Network Technical Advisor Committee (NTAC) working groups focused on areas such as Network Automation Special Interest Group (SIG), Insight Console Futures Committee, and Automation & Software Committee.

Current Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) offerings, initially designed in collaboration with Regional Education Networks and campus engineers, are being enhanced. The exploration of solutions for new attack vectors, such as Web DDoS Tsunami Attacks, is underway, along with the establishment of full Web Access Firewall protection. Simultaneously, a model that caters to the security and business model needs of the R&E community is being developed.

1. Internet2 will re-examine our communication methods, digital platforms, and storytelling efforts
   1. CE will initiate and lead a marketing segmentation and branding analysis for Internet2 to evaluate the Internet2 brand through a brand segmentation study and customer satisfaction surveys.   
   2. CE will work with other Internet2 areas to address issues and recommendations from these efforts.
2. CE will engage PAGs and create a subgroup from PAGs and the community to evaluate and provide user experience feedback on current platforms used and how they are or not meeting community needs. 
   1. CE will seek feedback on current marketing channels for effectiveness, impact, and overall community engagement. 
   2. CE will work closely with the CE-PAG to create a dedicated marketing kitchen cabinet of community professionals dedicated to providing marketing input and feedback. 
3. Upon prioritization of stakeholder (and groups), Internet2 will improve its strategic messaging and marketing approaches for priority services and programs relevant to each type of stakeholder persona. 
4. CE will support a review of current CRM and data captures and the use of data, metrics, and available insights to understand key channels for engagement and target specific audiences with communication strategies and content relevant to them.

Internet2 will continually evolve its marketing and communication strategies and frequently assess our marketing channels for effectiveness, impact, and overall community engagement. Internet2 will:

• Continue to improve Internet2 value propositions and ensure clear, regular articulation of those value propositions through strategic messaging, media relations, and marketing campaigns for priority services and programs.  
• Strive to continually use data, metrics, and available insights to understand key channels for engagement and target specific audiences with communication strategies and content relevant to them.  
• Continue to evaluate the Internet2 brand through periodic brand segmentation studies and customer satisfaction surveys.   

Internet2 strives to welcome and support a more diverse and broader community and to help advance the positive impacts that Internet2 services, solutions, and capabilities have on the entire community. 

Internet2 will work with broader groups of institutions to better understand how to build foundations upon which all those who aspire to be part of the Internet2 community can achieve their objectives. 

1. Community Engagement will launch a task force with representation from across the Internet2 community:  inclusive of MS-CC campuses, CLAC and other groups to evaluate potential approaches.
2. Network Services will Assess the Research Data Challenge: Leverage ties to community organizations, assess the research data challenge, and consider reports like the forthcoming one from NIST and the proceedings of the October 2023 US Research Data Summit.
3. Network Services will Provide Direct Engineering Engagement: Through structured workshops and office hours, engage with community engineers and stakeholders to improve operations, debug problems, and develop new architectural solutions for both cloud applications and data-intensive science.