Over the past few months, MDREN, KeystoneREN of Pennsylvania, and the University of Delaware have been exploring ways to collaborate to support education and research in the Mid-Atlantic. The organizations already have fiber resources that cover the three states and points of presence in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Ashburn, and throughout the state of Delaware. All three organizations are also members of Internet 2, which offers research institutions connectivity nationally and globally. A regional ring would provide seamless high-speed connectivity across the region that can support research requiring high-performance computing (HPC) resources or high-speed data transmission. As all institutions adopt new courses and activities surrounding artificial intelligence instruction and undergraduate research, this collaboration will enable the development of shared HPC resources relationships with R1 institutions in the region.

“This partnership can leverage the fiber resources of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware and put all the colleges on equal footing in terms of advanced computing resources while saving money,” said Jerry Waldron, Interim Executive Director, MDREN.