🚀 go-pugleaf

On March 8th the CREN Board will be meeting in Washington to develop a
strategic plan for the future of CREN and BITNET. The last time the Board
had a formal strategic planning session was in 1991, and we feel that it
is now time to revisit this plan in light of the many changes that have
occurred in the networking world.

BITNET was created in 1981 to fulfill a need for low cost networking that
was open to all.  Today the Internet with its regionals and commercial
suppliers is providing connectivity to many institutions that were, until
recently, served by BITNET.  While some organizations will continue to use
NJE-style services, it is clear that TCP/IP based networks and the
services that are made possible by these protocols have become essential
to most of our members.  CREN/BITNET has made significant contributions to
global academic networking in the past, and we believe that there are many
areas in the TCP/IP domain in which we can make a similar contribution.

Some of the areas which will be discussed as possible future directions

and services for CREN/BITNET include:

   Entry level networking services (i.e. "plug 'n play" packaged
   networking solutions for small colleges and K-12 schools -- including
   very easy to use front-ends, Dial IP connectivity, etc.)

   AlumNet, a service that would help to tie college and university alumni
   to their alma maters, their classmates, and the Internet in general.

   New discount programs along the lines of the highly successful 30%
   CISCO discount and the BTI Ethernet controller offering.

   A CREN/BITNET network server that would handle some of the tasks now
   provided by volunteers and contributed computer time (e.g. Interbit,
   BITFTP, etc.)

   Use of a CREN/BITNET server to deliver licensed information to CREN
   members. This might include such feeds as Clarinet (or similar) news
   services, etc.

We would appreciate hearing from you with your thoughts and suggestions
about where you would like to see CREN try to make a difference.  Feel
free to address the ideas above or any other directions you would like to
propose.  Please send your thoughts to the special list STRATEGY@BITNIC so
that we can make sure your ideas are seen by all board members without
being lost among the normal traffic of some other list.

We appreciate your many contributions in the past, and thank you in
advance for spending your time helping plan our future.

Best regards,

Ira Fuchs
President
for the Board of Trustees