Internet2 and Ankabut, the National Research and Education Networks for the United States and the United Arab Emirates, have announced a formal partnership to leverage each others’ advanced network infrastructures to support science and health science research, and education exchanges.

"We look forward to developing this partnership with our colleagues in the United Arab Emirates in support of the research and education mission of several of our university members who have a presence in the region," said Internet2 President and CEO H. David Lambert. “This partnership will also serve as a prototype for expanding our collaborations throughout the Middle East and other parts of the world. Our work with Ankabut to implement the interconnections and systems will greatly benefit researchers and educators, and innovation.”

“Internet2 is an international leader in advanced technology. We are ready to be a full partner and jointly pave the way to develop an advanced infrastructure and services for our members,” said Ankabut CEO Fahem Al Nuaimi. “Ankabut plays a significant role in the research and scientific development of the UAE, and contributes to the international knowledge-based economy currently being pursued by the government as part of its ‘UAE Vision 2021.’ Our partnership will increase collaboration with international institutions.”

"We are pleased that Ankabut and Internet2 are partnering. We think this will be most helpful in providing NYU Abu Dhabi with the increased capacity and infrastructure we will need for our growing programs," said Thomas A. Delaney, Vice President and Global CITO, New York University. “This partnership will benefit other higher education campuses in the UAE and the Middle East, as well.”

Internet2 and Ankabut will explore opportunities to collaborate with each other regarding the following:

· Designing high-speed interconnects between each other’s advanced networks, serving the needs of researchers and educators, and taking into consideration the need for network redundancy, resiliency and other advanced networking features. Network architecture elements may include high-capacity transoceanic links and open exchanges.

· Exploring emerging networking technologies, for example, OpenFlow/software-defined networking as a networking resource, advanced traffic management techniques, and other advanced technologies as they emerge.

· Using identity management systems to enable seamless shared research and education, and resource sharing for their users and, through leveraging federated identity management, sharing cloud technologies for each other’s constituencies.

· Creating an open access environment between the United States and Ankabut participant researchers and educators to share data repositories, intellectual capital, and open source software.

· Stimulating collaborations between researchers and educators in both the United States and the region served by Ankabut by creating tools such as global video services, facilitating introductions, and populating project databases.

· Enhancing staff expertise in advanced networking in the United Arab Emirates.

· Identifying additional opportunities to work together. Examples may include brokering services and relationships.