The SIG-Management Service Portfolios meeting took place on 11 October in Tbilisi, Georgia hosting 31 in-person and 17 remote participants from 23 different countries enriched by a wonderful city tour and delicious traditional Georgian dinners.
The hybrid model of the meeting worked really well, although remote participants missed out on the networking part of the event. We were lucky to be hosted in one of the oldest and most remarkable cities in the world, situated at the crossroads between East and West. We navigated through the Old Town and visited the main sites with the most beautiful facades and old districts with terraces and typical houses. Nourished by great sights and delicious food, we were ready for our meeting.
The first part of the meeting focused on Contextualising Foresight in R&E – what is it, why is it important and latest learnings.
The first speaker was René Rohrbeck – Professor of Foresight, Innovation and Transformation, EDHEC Business School in Lille, France, he introduced what strategic foresight is and how leading organisations leverage it to develop novel businesses. There is a clear correlation between future preparedness and profitability. Foresight allows to align all stakeholder interests as well as stakeholders outside organisation – thus helping to manage complexity and decision making in complex environments.
NREN national case studies followed with presentations from Jisc and SURF who discussed why foresight is important for NRENs, exploiting the opportunities of new technologies to their fullest potential as well as plans and ideas for the future.
The second part of the meeting was on Sustainability of Services. Annabel Grant from GÉANT shared feedback and learnings from the CEO track and forum that took place at TNC22 in June this year, with the analysis of environment, organisational set up, strategic plans and evolution of the service portfolio.
In the Above the net services session, Olaf Verschoor from GÉANT talked about procurement as a service and welcomed a vivid discussion with high involvement of EaP countries in international collaboration. SURFSpot and HEAnet shop showed us how students in the Netherlands and Ireland can benefit from the purchase of hardware and software at favourable rates.
We also received an update on GÉANT Compendium and were introduced to the GÉANT Foresight study – work will start in 2024 under the auspices of the GN5-1 project.
Last, but definitely not least to present at the end of the first day was Alberto Perez, who talked about RedIRIS strategic plans for 2024.
For more information about the activities, objectives and mission of SIG-MSP, visit the group’s dedicated wiki page. And subscribe to the mailing list to stay updated about the latest conversations and events!
