The Great Plains Network (GPN) Annual Meeting starts today in Kansas City. A few of our MOREnet team members are glad to participate in both workshops and committee meetings. GPN, a nonprofit consortium that connects universities, research institutions and other academic organizations across the Great Plains region of the United States, provides advanced networking capabilities, such as high-speed data transfer, collaboration tools and access to specialized resources and service. GPN’s vision is “To connect and cultivate the region’s research and education professionals, institutions and universities, resulting in more productive and successful collaborations.” GPN spans over eight states and 20 universities and has been on the forefront of Internet2 since its inception. MOREnet is proud to have been partnered with GPN as they have grown and advanced over the years. We’re happy to continue to work with GPN, learning from and contributing to this collaborative community.
GPN is hosting its annual meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, starting today, May 31 and running through June 3; this is only the second annual meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic and will include many sessions covering important topics for today’s high-speed research and cyberinfrastructure environment. Several MOREnet staff members will take part in the event, including Network Engineer Shannon Spurling, who chairs the GPN Network Technical Advisory Committee. During the annual event, Spurling will facilitate a meeting of the Committee, where the goal is to discuss policies, best practices, challenges and how to help fellow members reach their network and infrastructure goals.
Additionally, MOREnet’s Gloria Stephenson, Manager, Cybersecurity and LAN Services, and Kathy Bellew, Cybersecurity Analyst, will take part in a workshop in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security. This workshop will allow participants to evaluate their cybersecurity posture by working through real-world scenarios. Participants will be networking, information sharing and discussing best practices with each other.