In the Opening Plenary for TNC18 the Vietsch Foundation’s Medal of Honour was awarded to Ingrid Melve of Unit (the Norwegian Directorate for ICT and Joint Services in Higher Education and Research) and Licia Florio of GÉANT.
Ingrid Melve, Unit
Throughout her career, Ingrid has been generous in sharing her knowledge with the community, entertaining and informing audiences at many TERENA and GÉANT conferences, as well as contributing greatly to conference organisation.
Ingrid said: “Receiving the Vietsch award is an honour. I would like to thank the Norwegian universities for their commitment to innovate digital practices; and Uninett, the research network capable and willing to support innovation. I believe in the power of small things, and practical solutions. Our community is relentlessly collaborating to make, share and practise digital solutions for education and research.”
Licia Florio, GÉANT
Licia led the TERENA Certificate Service which has greatly reduced the price of digital certificates for R&E organisations across Europe, and the TACAR project which facilitates trust between certificates issued for R&E purposes across the globe. Such activities require coordination beyond Europe and she has provided continuing leadership throughout the life of the REFEDS activity developing compatible federation policies and practices.
Currently Licia leads the AARC project which continues to help research organisations to deploy federated access. Licia said: “It’s a great honour to receive this medal. It means a lot to me as I had the pleasure to work with Karel Vietsch for many years. I’m grateful to Karel for the many things he taught me and for his constructive criticism.”
About the Vietsch Foundation
The Vietsch Foundation was officially established on 28 February 2014 by the will of the late Karel Willem Vietsch, former Secretary General of TERENA. As a charity (ANBI) under Dutch law, the foundation is capable of making and receiving grants that satisfy the objectives and purpose of the organisation: to support research and development of advanced internet technology for scientific research and higher education. The Board of Trustees of the Vietsch Foundation are the custodians of the foundation assets and core values and implement them by funding initiatives and projects that have the greatest potential impact with minimal cost.
To learn more, visit http://www.vietsch-foundation.org/
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