TNC24 successfully concluded, having taken place in Rennes from 10 to 14 June.

The event, now a must-attend for the international research and education community, was organised by GÉANT and hosted by the French network Renater, drawing over 800 participants from around the world.

Two keynote speakers respectively opened and closed the conference: Paul Iske from Maastricht University, who highlighted the importance of learning from failures and turning them into growth opportunities, and Nataliya Kosmyna from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who discussed how to tackle future challenges by creating new ways of interacting with computers.

During the event, two awards were also assigned: the GÉANT Community Award was given to Marina Adomeit from the Swedish network SUNET for her contributions in the field of digital identities, while the Vietsch Medal of Honour was awarded to Christian Grimm, CEO of the German network DFN.

The various sessions and community discussion spaces covered numerous topics: from training and e-learning to international and intercontinental connectivity, including trust and identity and digital rights and freedoms. Additionally, the challenges of complexity and artificial intelligence were discussed, alongside ethical aspects, cybersecurity, network security, automation, and supercomputing.

The Future Talent Programme allowed young individuals selected by national research networks to present their projects in the Lightning Talk session, covering topics from reducing the Internet carbon footprint to tools for increased network security.

GARR and the Italian research community were key participants in several areas of the programme. Matteo Colantonio, GARR network engineer, and Renato Ambrosone from the Politecnico di Torino, a former GARR scholarship holder, presented the use of a digital twin (DT) for optimising the management of optical networks using GNPy. This solution could revolutionise research networks by adopting advanced optical technologies.

Claudio Allocchio of GARR, along with Dawn Ng of GÉANT, illustrated the GÉANT Innovation Programme, highlighting the results and successes achieved in recent years, with notable Italian participation. This programme continues to promote innovation within the academic and research community.

GARR also made significant contributions to REFEDS activities and the session dedicated to OpenID Federation, the new standard adopted by eduGAIN for the federation of digital identities internationally. Davide Vaghetti from GARR presented the implementation of this standard, announcing the launch of a pilot project in September.

In closing, as per tradition, the location for the next edition of TNC was announced. For 2025, the appointment is in Brighton, supported by the British research network Jisc.

To revisit all presentations, visit the event website.

Go to TNC24 website