The first workshop for the Special Interest Group on Campus Network as a Service (SIG-CNaaS) will take place on 19–20 January 2026, hosted by SURF at their Utrecht office. This two-day event invites NREN colleagues to collaborate on developing tools, software, and standards for the Campus Network Services (CNaaS) portfolio.
Designed as a pilot, the workshop aims to explore how participants can best work together on this emerging topic and to discover where each organisation stands in delivering campus network services. Participants will exchange best practices, discuss service models, and identify opportunities for shared development. While virtual participation will be available, we warmly encourage you to join in person.
The agenda focuses on two initial themes selected by the SIG-CNaaS steering committee:
Day one will explore how Network Operations Centres (NOC), ticketing, and monitoring systems can support campus networks efficiently, including insights into in-house versus outsourced models and possible collaboration across NRENs. An informal group dinner will follow this.
Day two will focus on Network Access Control (NAC) and IoT connectivity. Discussions will be based on the exploration of NAC systems, functional requirements, and the growing challenge of securely managing IoT devices on campus networks, including SURF’s own iotroam service as an example of innovation in this field.
In addition to these sessions, you will have the opportunity to share your own experiences, identify technical and operational challenges, and help shape future cooperation across the NREN community.
For details, including the full agenda and registration, visit the workshop wiki page.
Further information about SIG-CNaaS is available here: https://community.geant.org/sig-cnaas
Subscribe to the SIG-CNaaS mailing list to keep up to date on future events.
About SIG-CNaaS: Campus Network as a Service
The main aims of SIG-CNaaS: Campus Network as a Service are to:
- Provide a forum for exchanging ideas, knowledge and experience of developing, deploying, standardising and testing elements of a Campus Network as a Service (CNaaS) portfolio.
- Cooperate in the development of tools, software and standards of a CNaaS portfolio by exchanging best practices, business models, service delivery processes and technical solutions.
- Strive as a group to provide collective, coherent policies for CNaaS services to achieve larger economies of scale and more robust service delivery over time.
- Develop standardised frameworks and interoperable solutions for CNaaS, and promote the adoption of these. This ensures that services are consistent, reliable, and compatible across different NREN organisations.
- Provide an open collaboration platform to facilitate the sharing of information, standards and tools for other NRENs and organisations to use (and to provide input).
