about pacific northwest gigapop

Shaping the Future of the Pacific Northwest

• The Pacific Northwest's access point to the nation's leading edge, high-bandwidth, next-generation Internet networks including Internet2/Abilene, National LambdaRail, high-performance federal nets, and high-performance commodity Internet offerings
• A state of the art, super high-speed and low latency peering and
exchange point for networks interconnecting via the Pacific Wave International Peering Services and/or the PNWGP
• An Internet2/Next Generation Internet testbed and R&D site enabling and inviting local and national testbed and project participation
• A 'one-stop shopping' connection point that provides cost effective access to the major national commodity Internet Service Providers (ISPs), as well as to 'aggregation pools' and mechanisms that ensure alternate data paths, data paths with especially high quality end-to-end performance for specific applications, and links to partners.

By providing a regional connection point to and interconnection point among the research and commodity high-performance networks, as well as the leading edge testbeds, the PNWGP and its world class partners will help keep our region at the forefront of cutting edge research, educational opportunities, business competitiveness, telemedicine, and economic development, as well as exceptionally cost effective high-speed network access and exchange.

Some of the initiatives that will be leveraged through the PNWGP include development, testing, and deployment of

• The next generation Internet technologies and applications
• Teaching and learning tools and materials for K-12, higher education, continuing professional education, and work force training
• The latest innovations in Internet multimedia and on-demand video and audio markets
• Telemedicine applications and the evolution of network-based medical applications and medical informatics.

Any organization that is actively involved in or preparing for cutting edge Internet applications will benefit from connections to the PNWGP. Examples of applications currently under development:

• Manipulation by multiple, remotely situated researchers of huge data sets via 3-D imaging
• Real time telesurgery with remotely situated assisting surgeons and specialists
• 24 hour a day, better-than-broadcast quality TV programming over the Internet
• Remote interactions via video conference walls and mpeg2 interactive facilities and more
• QoS/CoS testbeds
• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
• Highest performance and lowest latency peering and local exchange techniques
• Internet2 middleware for security, authentication, authorization, trust, and other core elements of the next generation of e-business and secure e-medicine.

These technologies will fuel new and rapid growth of Internet commerce as well as jobs and telecommunications infrastructures throughout the region. Furthermore, the placement of the PNWGP in Seattle enables it to be collocated and tightly coupled with National LambdaRail and the Internet2/Abilene node for the entire Northwest, as well as with research and education networks throughout Asia and Canada. And because it is situated at the de facto major national and international communications infrastructure crossroads for the Pacific Rim, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, its efficient and cost effective connections provide the means for more of the area's organizations and businesses to fully participate in building the research, education, and economic future of the Pacific Northwest.

CONTRACTS, GRANTS, INITIATIVES ETC. - In pursuing these public interest technology driven service and infrastructure agendas the Pacific NorthWest Gigapop continuously seeks opportunities to collaborate with other research, education, clinical economic development, outreach, human services, governmental and technology transfer organizations on contract and grant opportunities. If you have an idea and funding opportunity you would like to work with us on please contact us to talk it over!

Also, occasionally the Pacific Northwest Gigapop itself makes awards, grants and enters into similar contracts, subcontracts or sub-awards. If you have an idea you believe would be mutually beneficial for us to fund, or for us to pursue funding together on, please don't hesitate to contact us.  In so doing, please do note that while we are open to innovation and approach problems with a mentality of flexibility, the Pacific Northwest Gigapop has an absolute and unwavering policy on any and all awards, grants and contracts: The policy is that the Pacific NorthWest Gigapop does not and will not pay any form of institutional overhead or indirect costs under any circumstances. As this conflicts with some organizations’ approaches please take this absolute policy of ours into consideration in any proposals you make to Pacific NorthWest Gigapop.

Note: From time to time the Pacific Northwest Gigapop makes awards, grants and enters into contracts.   In so doing, The Pacific Northwest Gigapop policy on awards, grants and contracts is that it will not pay any form of institutional overhead or indirect costs.