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Rutgers Regional Network gets a boost Archived article from Jan 26, 2001
The donation of fiber optic capacity in the state's E-ZPass toll collection system, announced by Gov. Christie Whitman during a Jan. 3 visit to the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, will facilitate the development of the Rutgers Regional Network, an expansion of RUNet 2000, the university's comprehensive communications infrastructure project. The donation of two fibers is being made by the Regional Consortium of agencies that established the E-ZPass network serving New Jersey's toll roads. The consortium is composed of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the New Jersey Highway Authority, the South Jersey Transportation Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Delaware Department of Transportation. In announcing the donation, the governor's office said the collaboration between Rutgers and the Regional Consortium "exemplifies the type of innovative partnership that the state wants to encourage through New Jersey Jobs for the New Economy," a high-tech initiative established by the governor last year. "The donation of the two strands to Rutgers will make Rutgers a much more effective participant in the state's developing higher education network, NJEDge.net, and NJVALE, the state's virtual academic library," said Wendy Rayner, chief information officer in the Office of the Governor. "Equally important, it will greatly leverage the state's investment in RUNet 2000." Edward Gross, executive director of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and lead agency for the Regional Consortium, said, "In developing the consortium's fiber optic network principally to serve E-ZPass operations, the consortium provided for additional fiber capacity to serve other public purposes. The consortium is delighted that we can assist Rutgers University in building the Rutgers Regional Network. Expanding and improving education in New Jersey is an essential public purpose, and the toll facilities are proud to be part of Rutgers' technological expansion." "This donation provides a unique opportunity to combine Rutgers' telecommunications resources and educational capabilities with the state's technological assets for the benefit of all New Jersey citizens," said President Francis L. Lawrence. "The new network will expand the reach and impact of RUNet 2000, thereby helping us fulfill our mission as New Jersey's State University and as one of this nation's leading public research universities. Our research activities in the sciences, public policy, extension field stations, off-campus centers and professional schools will be greatly enhanced by this powerful and faster connectivity." "The state, in its transportation plans, called for this electronic dimension to the highways," said Christine M. Haska, vice president for institutional research and planning. "This created a wonderful opportunity for us to expand and further leverage the investments that we've already made in information technology at Rutgers. By connecting to high-speed fibers along New Jersey's major highways, the Rutgers Regional Network will link the university's campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden with one another as well as with other research and educational facilities throughout the state. "This is a really exciting moment in Rutgers' technological development," Haska added. "It is a major milestone in our work to maintain technological leadership in the state and in the region. We are securing the future now with infrastructure that will ensure that our faculty, our students and our staff have the tools necessary to fulfill the mission of the university for many years to come." The network is expected to expand educational opportunities throughout the state, enhancing and improving the quality of distance education and encouraging the development and extension of interactive, multimedia, Web-based courses in many disciplines. It will enable Rutgers to better serve a variety of workforce needs, including graduate, business and technical education, and to reach areas with limited higher education opportunities, where such services can positively affect the economy. Utilization of the state's high-speed network will result in significant cost savings for the university by eliminating the need to lease such capacity. The design and construction of campus connections to the fiber optic network along the New Jersey Turnpike are targeted to begin early next year after a carrier is identified through competitive bidding. The projected implementation date for the Rutgers Regional Network is the spring of 2002. |