IHETS brings Internet2 to Hoosier colleges, universities, K-12 schools, and public libraries

Released: September 24, 2001
Contact: Carol Brunty, 317.263.8846

INDIANAPOLIS—To support teaching and learning throughout Indiana, the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (IHETS) has joined the Internet2 initiative through the sponsorship of Indiana University.

Founded in the summer of 1996 by a group of the 100 top research universities, including Purdue and Indiana University, Internet2 is being developed as the “next generation” Internet.

IHETS is a consortium of all higher education institutions in Indiana. IHETS member colleges and universities were the first to connect to the Indiana Telecommunications Network—the statewide voice, video and data network also known as ITN. Now through a cooperative agreement with Indiana University, IHETS and Intelenet have connected ITN to the Internet2 network in Indianapolis. This provides a connection for all Hoosier educators and researchers to virtually every research network in the world, opening the door to greater collaborations and communication.

“As of August 14 when the Internet2 connection was made, the potential for educational opportunities via Internet2 became available to all institutions of higher education, K-12 schools and public libraries in the state that are connected to ITN,” said Dave King, IHETS executive director. “The timing is perfect because this comes when efforts around Internet2 are beginning to rapidly focus on educational applications and opportunities.”

“Bringing the state’s students and library patrons into the Internet2 environment means that they can take advantage of applications that don't work well, or at all, on today’s Internet,” said Brian D. Voss, associate vice president for telecommunications at Indiana University. “As well, they will help advance the technology of the Internet in the future. Indiana University, as a leader in the high performance networking community, is very excited to be sponsoring the connection of IHETS and the ITN to Internet2.”

There are currently 335 K-12 schools and 218 public libraries connected to ITN, in addition to Indiana’s 61 higher education campuses and 69 Learning Centers.

ITN is operated under the auspices of the Intelenet Commission. According to Jerry Sullivan, executive director of Intelenet, “We are pleased to partner with IHETS and Indiana University to offer higher education customers of ITN connectivity to Internet2. The ability to conduct simultaneous on-site education and training with geographically dispersed sites, and the potential for collaboration among educational institutions is boundless, and facilitates a broad community of users.”

IHETS is an integral part of the rapidly evolving telecommunication and educational technology environment in Indiana. Its mission is to help higher education in Indiana—working with K-12 schools, public libraries, public broadcasting stations and other identified education and information providers—enhance the development of human capital statewide through effective use of telecommunications and information technology.

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