Microsoft Will Contribute
Resources and Collaborate With University Researchers
To Enable Revolutionary Internet Technology and
Applications
WASHINGTON April 28,
1999 At the annual Internet2
member meeting, Microsoft Corp. today became an Internet2 Corporate
Partner and announced that it will make both financial and
intellectual contributions to the project. As an Internet2
Corporate Partner, Microsoft will work with researchers at over 150
universities to develop advanced Internet applications and
technologies.
‘At Microsoft, we envision people connected to
a highly evolved and more efficient Internet one that is accessible
any time, from anywhere,’ said Rick Rashid, vice president of
Microsoft Research. ‘The Internet as we know it today is constantly
pushed to its limits. Even though now we
can participate in videoconferences or exchange audio and video
clips with one another, the quality of the experience is not
optimal or compelling enough to make it commonplace. By working
with the Internet2 consortium, Microsoft is confident that together
we can overcome the current technical challenges by developing the
new network technologies that will eventually revolutionize the
Internet experience.’
As one of more than 15 Internet2 Corporate Partners,
Microsoft will make contributions exceeding $1 million in goods and
services to universities involved in the Internet2 project.
Microsoft® Research and the Microsoft Product
Development groups will collaborate closely with Internet2 members
and through the Internet2 Working Groups to build shared knowledge
in current and emerging areas of common interest, including Quality
of Service (QoS), IP Multicast and IPv6. Accelerating technology
development in these and other areas will enable the global
Internet to operate more efficiently and more reliably.
‘We look forward to Microsoft joining the members of
the Internet2 project in working together to enable research and
education into the next century,’ said Doug Van Houweling,
president and CEO of the University Corporation for Advanced
Internet Development (UCAID), which is leading the Internet2
project. ‘This relationship not only demonstrates Microsoft’s
continuing commitment to R&D, but a willingness to be actively
involved with the Internet2 university community in pursuit of our
common goals to advance the global Internet.’
‘Microsoft has a tremendous potential to contribute
to systems and networking areas of Internet2,’ said Ron Johnson,
vice president of computing and communications, University of
Washington. ‘The potential for delivering robust, real-time
tele-immersion, tele-medicine and high-quality demand video,
television, telephony and multimedia, as well as network-aware and
adaptive applications and the ‘trust fabric’ middleware needed for
pervasive electronic business, is no longer just a dream. But to
make it real across the desktops of the world it’s essential to
have Microsoft’s research and product development at the
table.’
To facilitate collaboration with Internet2
universities, Microsoft Research is establishing high-speed
connections to Abilene, an Internet2 backbone network, and other
Internet2 research institutions via the Pacific Northwest GigaPoP
led by the University of Washington in Seattle.
The Internet2 project is being led by over 150
U.S. universities, working with industry and government, to enable
and facilitate the advanced network applications necessary to meet
emerging needs in higher education. Internet2 participants are
developing the broadband applications, engineering and network
management tools for research and education. For more information
on Internet2, a project of the University Corporation for Advanced
Internet Development (UCAID), see http://www.internet2.edu/.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq ‘MSFT’) is the
worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company
offers a wide range of products and services for business and
personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier
and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power
of personal computing every day.
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Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft
Corp. Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of
their respective owners.
For more information on Microsoft
Research:
Visit http://research.microsoft.com/.
In other news, last October an internal memo from Microsoft was released
that outlines de-commoditization of open protocols as a way to
respond to the threat of Open Source Software. -lt ed