Jisc secures future of Janet Network to support the UK’s critical National Research and Education Network

New ten-year agreement with Neos Networks will provide the scalable fibre infrastructure needed to support increasingly data-intensive UK research and innovation.

We have announced a new ten-year contract extension with Neos Networks. The agreement extends a long-standing partnership between Jisc and Neos Networks, providing the high-capacity, secure fibre infrastructure that supports the connectivity needs of universities, colleges, research institutions, and innovation centres across the UK.

The Janet Network is nationally significant digital infrastructure and the UK’s National Research and Education Network (NREN). As a sovereign network, operating under UK law and governance in the national interest, Janet connects the UK’s education and research community while providing seamless interconnection with international research partners and global NRENs.

The demands being placed on this infrastructure are growing rapidly. Advances in AI, alongside increasingly data-intensive areas of research, mean institutions need to move greater volumes of data between researchers, facilities and computing resources, often in real time. As these workloads grow, the underlying network must be able to scale with them.

Through our agreement with Neos Networks, we are securing the high-capacity fibre foundation that Janet needs to meet this demand over the next decade. The scale and resilience of the infrastructure will support continued growth in bandwidth-intensive research and cloud-enabled services, while providing the network capacity needed as technologies including AI and quantum computing continue to evolve.

The infrastructure will support Janet connectivity across regions, ensuring that cutting-edge research benefits from world-class data transfer technology wherever it is located in the UK.

As a private network, Janet includes built-in cyber security protection supported by sector-wide intelligence and coordinated response from Jisc. With cyber security embedded in the research network, Janet supports the UK government’s AI strategy emphasis on safety, resilience, and responsible deployment.

The ten-year agreement also gives us long-term certainty over the infrastructure underpinning Janet as demand continues to evolve. This allows us to plan for future capacity requirements and enhance the network in step with new technologies and changing user needs. Over the course of the contract, the scalable, high-capacity fibre infrastructure delivered by Neos Networks will also enable other users to benefit from the technical and security capabilities of Janet, including public sector and government organisations.

The importance of this capacity can already be seen in projects such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory project in Chile. With 25% of the data generated expected to be managed by the UK, Janet will transmit huge volumes of information to participating UK research sites for analysis. Infrastructure supplied by Neos Networks will help give Janet the capacity and resilience required to support projects of this scale, alongside the next generation of AI-enabled and data-intensive research.

Leadership perspectives

Bella Abrams, Group CTO at Jisc, said:

“This agreement represents a significant milestone for the Janet Network. By extending our partnership with Neos Networks, we are ensuring the long-term stability, scalability, and security of the UK’s research and education connectivity. It gives us the foundation to continue innovating and to support the increasingly complex digital needs of the UK’s education and research community.”

A spokesperson for Neos Networks added:

“Over the next decade, AI, advanced computing and increasingly data-intensive research will drive huge growth in the information institutions need to move quickly and securely between people, facilities and computing resources.

“That makes high-capacity, resilient and scalable connectivity increasingly fundamental to the UK’s research ambitions. By extending our partnership with Jisc for another ten years, we’re helping ensure Janet has the network foundation it needs to keep scaling as those demands evolve, supporting world-leading research and innovation across the UK.”

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