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| US ignite |
The series of tubes that make up the Internet are getting bigger. Tomorrow President Obama will sign an executive order at the White House speeding the way for laying new cable, for example, by letting companies install broadband during highway construction work, which can lower the cost of installation up to 90%. At the same time, new applications of distributed cloud computing, virtualized networks that use software to simplify the flow of information, and symmetrical gigabit bandwidth connections all the way to your laptop, taken together, have the potential to reach speeds up to 250 times faster than today's Internet.
But what will we do with all that Internet? White House CTO Todd Park announced today that the National Science Foundation, which built the $40 million Global Environment for Network Innovations, "GENI," a prototype ultrafast broadband sandbox for developers, is sponsoring the US Ignite competition in partnership with Mozilla, Juniper, Cisco, Verizon, Comcast, and several other companies.
What is US ignite?
US Ignite is an initiative to promote US leadership in developing applications and services for ultra-fast broadband and software-defined networks. It will foster the creation of novel applications and digital experiences that will transform healthcare, education and job skills training, public safety, energy, and advanced manufacturing. By serving as a coordinator and incubator of this ecosystem, US Ignite will accelerate the adoption of next-generation networks.
US Ignite’s mission is threefold:
Spur the development of next-generation applications and digital experiences specifically designed for advanced-technology networks
Maximize the potential of the GENI project’s national testbed network, a platform initially connecting 14 campuses and 6 cities providing symmetrical speeds of at least 100 Mbps
Establish the US Ignite Partnership, a non-profit, public-private organization, to ensure new applications offer high-impact public benefit and/or high potential for commercialization
Leveraging existing high-speed networks connecting research institutions and enterprises.
Sharing best practices in infrastructure deployment, service creation and delivery, application development, and R&D.
With support from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science Foundation, and the GENI Program Office, the US Ignite Initiative will leverage the combined resources of government, research institutions, foundations, and industry to foster an innovation ecosystem for gigabit application and service development.
Six cities have shown initial interest in piloting US Ignite efforts, including Chattanooga, Cleveland, Lafayette, LA, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and cities throughout the Salt Lake City region. Additional cities can be GENI-enabled rapidly.
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