As the pioneer of the Swiss Internet and operator of the Swiss academic network, SWITCH boasts excellent international connections. It fosters good relations with the leading Internet organisations around the world and also has close ties to international research networks. Many staff are personally active as members of global organisations, committees, working groups or research initiatives. SWITCH is thus playing its part in the development of the Internet community.
Overview of international cooperations
- GÉANT Association: The Gigabit European Academic Network (GÉANT) connects Europe's national research and education networks to each other and to similar networks around the globe. More than 50 million users in over 10,000 research and education institutions worldwide can work together with ease thanks to GÉANT – almost as if they were all on the same campus. In October 2014, DANTE and TERENA merged to create the GÉANT Association. SWITCH is a member and takes part in several research and working groups. Info: geant.org
- e-IRG: SWITCH represents Switzerland on behalf of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) in the e-Infrastructure Reflection Group (e-IRG). This European Commission initiative supports the creation of a political, technological and administrative framework for easy and cost-effective shared use of distributed electronic resources across Europe. Info: e-irg.eu
- FIRST: The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams is the world's largest and most respected community of IT security experts. It supports Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) in governments, organisations and educational institutions around the world in responding quickly and appropriately to security incidents. Cross-border cooperation and a shared knowledge pool are key factors in the success of the FIRST security network. SWITCH has been a member since 1998. Info: first.org
- CENTR: After SWITCH lobbied for coordinated joint efforts by European registries, the Council of National Top Level Domain Registries was set up in 1999. As the non-profit interest group for all registries in Europe, CENTR functions as both a discussion forum and an important point of contact for governments and Internet organisations. It focuses on consensus-forming and collaboration. Info: centr.org