APPROVED DRAFT

September 16, 1999

IHETS Board Room
714 N. Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN

Present:  Ellen Watson, Chair, Indiana State University; Fred Nay, Ball State University; Donald Banning, Indiana Workforce Development for Craig Hartzer, Barrie Zimmerman, IPBS; Brian Stone, Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library; Carl Koenig, Vincennes University; Tim Fisher, Max Gordon, Dave King, Nancy Millichap, Tim Ping, Mark Rottler, Susan Scott, Ed Stockey, Ed Tully, Betty Hart, and, Jeff Walker, IHETS staff.

Watson called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m.

Approval of meeting minutes

The meeting minutes from August were unanimously approved as submitted. 

IHETS Applications Development

Tully reported that several IHETS staff members along with Jerry Sullivan from Intelenet attended a meeting on August 25 in Chicago at the Metropolitan Research and Education Network (MREN.) IHETS is in discussion with MREN (and ICAIR) at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. The Metropolitan Research and Education Network (MREN) is an internationally recognized advanced high-performance broadband networking agency. The primary focus of MREN is to provide advanced digital communications for leading-edge research and educational applications.

MREN is dedicated to providing a wide range of possible advanced digital networking services. One of these services is high-end (full motion) video. We are working with MREN to improve the design of an information retrieval system that can be indexed and searched by word, video frame, scene, etc. There are no direct financial resources required to participate in MREN at this time. However, we may wish to connect to the vBNS for connectivity to MREN.

It is also in the best interests of the higher education institutions in Indiana for IHETS to begin to participate in the Internet2. Currently Indiana and Purdue Universities are members of the University Corporation for Advanced Network Development (UCAID), which is responsible for Internet2. Tully suggested that IHETS become an affiliate member in UCAID; there were no objections to this proposal. Feedback is needed from the institutions on their implementation plans for advanced video technology. Purdue needs to be approached about connection to the VBNS, and there is no connection cost to participate.

Quarterly Review

A motion to join UCAID was made by Wayne Bohm and seconded by Elaine Bennington. Watson will carry the ITC recommendation to the Management Committee that IHETS allocate $10,000 for UCAID affiliate membership.

Budget Issues

Fisher noted that the year-end report for fiscal 1998-99 was on track with earlier projections (a copy will be faxed to those unable to open the electronic attachment). He also reported that connectivity expenses for the first quarter of this fiscal year were at 62% of projections, so there are no cost-sharing issues at this point. Staff will report again at mid year.

Rottler announced that IHETS has received requests for DS3 pricing, which opens another area for budgetary consideration. The current Access Indiana price for a full DS3 is $198,000 per year, or $16,500 per month, which compares favorable with commercial rates ranging from $250,000 to $300,000. He noted that fractional DS3 service is also feasible though no costs have been set for such service. Following some discussion of current bandwidth use and projected needs, members agreed to discuss the issue at their institutions and inform staff and the ITC about their projections. Watson asked Rottler to convene a task group (including representative from BSU and ISU) to address cost-sharing for various bandwidth options and report a recommendation to the ITC at the next meeting.

Indiana Telecommunications Association

The Legislative Regulatory Flexibility Committee held a public hearing on September 14 at the State House to hear concerns from the Indiana Telecommunications Association about Access Indiana. ITA is charging that IHETS and Intelenet are competing unfairly with ITA members. King stated that the state does not want to be competing in the public sector and that we need to review our service level requirements and bring back to the table for discussion. It was suggested that John Koppin, President of ITA, be invited to an ITC meeting to discuss his concerns. Tully noted that we are not competing with the telephone companies for business and both Ameritech and GTE gained an extra million in business from the backbone. Watson concurred that we should invite Koppin to the November ITC meeting.

Watson added it was time to form a subcommittee to review higher education standards of service levels. Bennington volunteered to participate and report back to the ITC with a January target date. It was stressed that full participation is needed from all institution regarding their expectations for service level agreements.

Megaconference

Mark Rottler reported that IHETS staff are working with OARNET to participate in the H.323 Megaconference (Internet2 Membership is not a prerequisite). OARNET is attempting to recruit 100 institutions from higher education, medical field, veterinarians and others. The URL for the Megaconference is http://www.mega-net.net/megaconference.

Welcome New Members

In attendance for the first time were Donald Banning, Deputy Commissioner for Indiana Workforce Development, attending for Craig Hartzer; Brian Stone, Automation Manager at the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library; and Barrie Zimmerman of IPBS. Each attendee was asked to briefly share their current areas of interest. Brian Stone envisions increased connections and a desire for faster, reliable connections for his patrons; Barrie Zimmerman is currently working with Thomson on a partnership in digital broadcasting products. 

The meeting adjourned at 3:05 p.m.

Next meeting is scheduled for October 12.