Illinois Online Network Faculty Summer Institute Neil Matkin May 24, 2000
WHY the ICN? Illinois is in the top 5 states for expenditures on higher education …But we rank in the middle of the pack (17 th or 18 th ) for educational attainment Educational Delivery – The Advanced Placement Lever (43%)
WHY the ICN? Educational Delivery Economic Development Better Trained Workforce Support of Growing Illinois Technology Industry Educational Attainment Gains
What is the ICN? A robust, statewide education network to connect all Illinois elementary, secondary, and higher education institutions as well as libraries and museums for the purpose of delivering and receiving educational content.
So what’s the big deal? 8,200 potential constituents LOTS of HOPS The Broadband Revolution Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Encyclopedia Britannica Harley Davidson
What are the design goals? Build upon existing state projects Avoid duplication of costly facilities and services Recognize economies of scale to leverage state buying power Build at a large enough scale to interest partners/telecommunications providers Balance construction of the backbone network with current and anticipated user demands
Building on Existing Projects LincOn (K-12 network) (2000+) Illinois Video Education Network (Higher Education) (455) State Frame Relay Backbone & State Video Network (State Agencies) (200/100) Library System Networks (12)
What does the ICN look like? The ICN spans the entire state in a 2-3 year build out period It is a high speed, high bandwidth network It is an ATM solution capable of carrying voice, video, data, and image
What does the ICN cost? Fiscal year 2000 budget of $27 million Plus Federal E-rate dollars totaling approximately $3 million per year
The Backbone Network & Regional Technology Centers
A Gathering of State Networks St. Louis, Missouri April states and Puerto Rico reported Many successes Many failures
Failed Efforts Resulted From… Lack of flexibility in procurement disallowing utilization of new technologies (cable, wireless) Lack of sufficient ties to the higher education research networks Lack of sufficient levels of support
Failed Efforts Resulted From… Insistence on one all purpose network resulting in ‘engineering by legislation’ Building the network on a ‘cost reduction model’ which ultimately prohibited new infrastructure
Future Bandwidth Needs Based on the experience of other states bandwidth demand will grow exponentially beyond what institutions can ultimately afford A rule of thumb is that bandwidth demand doubles every months H.320 interactive video is going to increase rather than decrease along with IP-based video (H.323) taking up increasing amounts of bandwidth
Long Term Success: Considerations The speed of technology does not equal the speed of state government – we must act more quickly to provision bandwidth The ICN must align itself with higher education research efforts Public/private partnerships must be embraced to develop sufficient economy of scale for long term success
What do I believe?
Questions & Answers