Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC), University of Oregon IRNC:SP Cultivating the International Research and Education Network Fabric: An Essential Underpinning of Cyberinfrastructure PI: Dale Smith, co-PI: Steven Huter
The Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) develops and enhances network infrastructure for collaborative research, education, and international partnerships, while promoting teaching and training via the transfer of technology. This IRNC project focuses NSRC activities on cultivating cyberinfrastructure via technical exchange, engineering assistance, training, conveyance of networking equipment and technical reference materials, and related activities to promote network technology adoption, and enhanced connectivity in R&E sites around the world. The end goal is to enhance and enable international collaboration via the Internet between U.S. scientists and collaborators in developing countries.
The broader impacts of NSRC's activities are global in scope -- helping to establish and improve underlying cyberinfrastructure, both physical (network connectivity) and human which are necessary to allow international scientific endeavors to flourish. Such resources are crucial to engage researchers in developing areas of the world. As an additional benefit, the NSRC's work builds goodwill for U.S. scientists, the NSF, and the U.S. government in universities, research institutions, and network operator groups throughout the developing world.
Regarding intellectual merit, NSRC's work advances knowledge and understanding within the fields of networking, telecommunications and information technology through the clarity of its focus: working to solve specific problems with people in the research and education environments of developing economies that seek to work together with their counterparts in the U.S. Improved infrastructure and increased available bandwidth enable international researchers to document and publish more local, indigenous data and publish more co-authored papers with U.S. scientists. The improved communications resulting from these efforts enhance collaboration between scientists and engineers on both ends of the connectivity spectrum; this ultimately helps attract a wider variety of ideas, information, talent, and resources to solving problems.
