Having spent a good part of the end-of-year festivities evaluating a large number of proposals for presentations for TNC23, the conference’s programme committee – made up of 21 members representing 14 nationalities across 3 continents – met again on a chilly January day at the GÉANT offices in Amsterdam to give shape to the conference’s preliminary programme.
Over the course of a very intense and productive two-day meeting, the conference’s sessions and parallel tracks gradually took shape in a collage of multi-coloured post-it notes on the boardroom’s white wall. Subsequently each conference session was paired with a chairperson and labelled with catchy titles. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? But the reality is rather more complex. The process requires a reliable back-end system to manage content, applicants details, reviewers and registrations, a very effective programme committee team and exceptionally highly advanced project management skills.
The TNC23’s theme Digital Generations highlights the challenge that NRENs must face when serving all digital generations and on how the NREN community needs to engage these generations and reflect on how they are integrating future generations into their organisations and infrastructure. The conference programme will also focus on sub-themes and areas of interest such as Network, Trust & Identity, Security, Supporting Research & Education, and Communities & Collaboration.
Content selection is one of the most significant processes to take place behind the scenes at TNC every year: it lays the foundations for the conference to provide common and fertile ground for discussions and exchanges between participants, creating multiple opportunities for connections and future collaborations within the international R&E networking community. Exceptional cross-NREN collaboration, dedication, willingness to make a difference – from all parties involved – plus ongoing high levels of support at NREN and EC management level are all, in equal measure, fundamental factors to the success of TNC year after year.
Witnessing the birth of such a seminal event for the international R&E networking community never loses its appeal as it feels new every time even though the tested and smooth format enables and facilitates the decision-making process.
The community is eagerly awaiting the publication of this year’s preliminary programme, which promises to be engaging, enriching and thought-provoking. So just watch this space – all will be revealed next month.
Upcoming TNC23 deadlines
- Call for Demonstrations closes on 2 February
- Call for Lightning Talks opens on 2 February
- Early bird registration closes on 26 March
