Cases & Voices
National Research and Education Networks
(Opinion: Luis Eliécer Cadenas Marín, Executive Director of RedCLARA) The term networks has been used in many contexts: we live in the era of networks, we have social networks, community networks, collaboration networks, education networks and many others. For this reason, it is very important to distinguish between these uses and their meanings, and to define precisely what the concept of National Research and Education Network means.
The term networks, in general, it is used to represent collaborative networks. These collaborative networks may or may not be based on the use of technology. On the other hand, the National Research and Education Networks are organizations that coordinate, at the national level, the digital infrastructure required for universities and research centers to enhance their activities, achieve results and effectively integrate themselves globally with other national networks.
The main differences between these two types of networks are explained in the following table:
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National Research and Education Network |
General collaborative network |
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It is an organization with a legal identity and the mission of constituting and managing the digital infrastructure required for Education and Science. |
Consists mainly of individuals with common interests, but belonging to different institutions. |
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Those in charge to carry out the network's mission are employees who receive a salary for their work. |
Those in charge of fulfilling the network's mission are volunteers with an interest in the common theme, who, in general, do not receive salaries for their participation in the network. |
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There is only one per country. |
There may be many, of different types, with different geographical ranges. It is important to highlight that the collaboration networks in science and education belong to this category. |
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It is non for profit. |
It may or may not be for profit. |
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Access to the infrastructure implemented by the national network occurs through a membership model, in which customers are, at the same time, members and owners of the organization. |
It does not necessarily imply the existence of an infrastructure. |
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They promote and support the means for the creation of many collaborative networks in science and education based on the common infrastructure. |
It promotes the incorporation of new members, but does not support multiple networks. |
National Research and Education Networks optimize solutions to problems that are common to a country's universities and research centers in economic, organizational and social terms. If they all have a common need for connectivity, data centers, computing resources, IT security management, data management and more, letting each university solve its problems for itself is an inferior solution from all points of view and, above all, under the economic one.
In addition, the huge computing and connectivity resources needed for Science and Education require dedicated infrastructures with performance standards that are not provided at an efficient cost by the market.
The National Research and Education Networks are generally organizations (governmental or not) with well-established governance mechanisms, which are in the hands of the universities and research centers that constitute them. These, in turn, are represented in an assembly that delegates the execution of priority projects to the personnel hired for that purpose in the organization.
Currently, there are more than 140 national networks around the world, which is an indicator of their effectiveness and importance. Almost all countries with high levels of scientific productivity and quality higher education have a National Research and Education Network.
These organizations positively impact science, education and innovation, providing a common infrastructure necessary for these areas to be strengthened and integrated with other actors around the world. By promoting science, education and technological development, they impact, indirectly, but in a very important way, the economic and social growth of the countries where they are located.
It is surprising, at least for me, that in the midst of a pandemic, in which the work of scientists around the world to obtain a vaccine has become evident, we still have governments in Latin America that do not understand the relevance of these investments. They either don't understand or don't want to understand. I choose the second option.
