Behind every research project and every scientific breakthrough, there must be a trusted digital foundation capable of connecting people, institutions, and infrastructures across institutions, nations and borders.
This was the central theme of the GÉANT Project Open Day, co-located with the GN5-2 Project Symposium, which brought together stakeholders from across the GÉANT community. The event celebrated over 25 years of collaboration and explored how the partnership can continue supporting Europe’s digital ambitions in an increasingly complex geopolitical and technological landscape.
The Open Day was the first of its kind, inviting representatives from the EU institutions, research infrastructures, university associations, embassies and permanent representations, as well as regional bodies from across Europe.
Opening the event, GÉANT CEO Lise Fuhr reflected on the role the community has played over the past quarter century in building a trusted digital foundation for research and education. Looking towards the future, she highlighted the growing importance of connectivity as a strategic asset for Europe, underpinning digital sovereignty, resilience, and competitiveness.
A video address from Kilian Gross, Director for Enabling and Emerging Technologies at DG CNECT, reinforced this perspective. He emphasised that Europe’s investments in AI, high-performance computing, digital identity, data spaces, and quantum technologies ultimately depend on the ability to integrate these capabilities into a coherent and accessible ecosystem. In this context, GÉANT and the NRENs represent a strategic asset, connecting more than 66,000 institutions and 60 million users while enabling collaboration across Europe and beyond.
Supporting science at scale
The importance of this digital foundation was illustrated by Fabio Hernandez of IN2P3/CNRS, who presented the data challenges associated with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a major astronomical observatory project in Chile. Expected to transfer approximately 30 petabytes of data and millions of images over the coming years, the initiative depends on seamless international connectivity spanning several continents and multiple research and education networks before the data can be analysed by scientific communities across Europe.
The event also highlighted the global dimension of the GÉANT project through contributions from Mark Urban, Executive Director of RedCLARA. He demonstrated how decades of cooperation have created lasting capacity, strengthened international scientific collaboration, and brought mutual benefits to both Europe and Latin America.
The multiplier effect in action
A defining feature of the event was the contribution from National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), showcasing how the GÉANT project delivers value nationally, regionally, and internationally.
Dirk Haex, Director of Belnet (Belgium), described the GÉANT model through a simple principle: build together once, adapt locally, and multiply the impact. Drawing on examples such as OCRE2024 and cybersecurity initiatives, he showed how expertise, services, and purchasing power developed collectively at European level generate tangible benefits for national R&E communities.
This perspective was echoed by Gilles Massen, Director of RESTENA (Luxembourg), who also highlighted cybersecurity initiatives and services like eduVPN as examples of how co-funding enables NRENs to deliver capabilities that would be difficult to achieve independently. Aris Sotiropoulos, CEO of GRNET (Greece), reflected on how participation in GÉANT has helped strengthen national capacity in areas ranging from digital identity and EOSC to quantum technologies, supercomputing, and AI.
Looking ahead, Cezary Mazurek, Co-Director of PCSS (Poland), explored how Europe’s investments in AI Factories, EuroHPC, and quantum technologies require more than infrastructure alone. Long-term success, he argued, depends on trusted ecosystems, sustainable governance models, shared knowledge, and strong partnerships capable of transforming technological investment into societal and economic value.
From a regional perspective, Anastas Mishev, GN5-2 Project Coordinator from MARnet (North Macedonia) and representative of the South East Europe (SEE) Forum, demonstrated how European funding creates lasting impact through regional cooperation. By sharing infrastructure, expertise and human networks, regional initiatives help bridge digital divides, strengthen national capabilities, and connect more countries to the European Research Area.
A foundation for the future
Across the two sessions, a common message emerged: the GÉANT project is much more than a network. It is a partnership between the European Commission, the GÉANT Association, and its members built on trust, expertise, shared purpose, and long-term collaboration. It’s a model that works.
As Europe seeks to strengthen its resilience and technological sovereignty, the GÉANT community continues to demonstrate how a European capability can be created collectively, adapted locally, and multiplied across countries, institutions, and research communities.
Twenty-five years after the start of this journey, that multiplier effect remains one of the project’s greatest strengths, and one of its most important contributions to Europe’s future.
