OARnet hosted its fall Member Meeting on Nov. 14, 2024, at its facility in Columbus to provide updates on its services and infrastructure and foster discussion on issues such as cybersecurity.
This year OARnet also welcomed the meetings of the Inter-University Council (IUC) of Ohio, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO) and the Ohio Two-Year Colleges Technology Council (OTCTC) that addressed topics relevant to higher education institutions in Ohio and beyond.
During the fall Member Meeting, OARnet leadership provided several updates on client services, engineering initiatives, security offerings and other projects. Highlights include:
Cybersecurity: OARnet is reviewing proposals for new security services to be offered to its membership and is advancing a project that will add security enhancements to its Network Operations Center. In addition, it is participating in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) State and Local Grant Program that will strengthen cybersecurity capabilities and resiliencies in the state of Ohio.
Engineering: OARnet discussed the advancement of its 400 Gigabits per second (Gbps) service on the statewide fiber-optic backbone, as well as efforts to grow its peering service, which will offer a more direct connection to providers while reducing the cost of internet service. OARnet also is developing new statewide infrastructure dedicated to supporting emergency communications.
Client Services: Leadership has implemented a new master service agreement for members and sponsored a VMware Education Day in November for clients.
The meeting also featured the panel discussion “Strategies for Maintaining Momentum in Your Cybersecurity Program.” Moderated by Kirk Herath, cybersecurity strategic advisor and chair of CyberOhio, Ohio Governor’s Office, the panel of information technology professionals from public and private sector entities in Ohio discussed the challenges of managing cybersecurity initiatives in large organizations.
The panelists reviewed the various threats in the digital landscape, which range from cybercriminals using ransomware and activists deploying DDoS attacks to the theft of U.S. intellectual property. Within organizations, government entities and companies, the IT professionals charged with overseeing cybersecurity also face many challenges, such as needing to work with a wide variety of third-party vendors that supply software, ensuring employee compliance with cybersecurity practices, evaluating levels of risk on proposed organization initiatives and coordinating large and dispersed teams of IT staff involved in managing these issues.
The panel featured:
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David Daniel, Vice President for Security & Infrastructure, Cyber Security Operations, Nationwide
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Holly Drake, Chief Information Security Officer, State of Ohio
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John Virden, Assistant Vice President of Security, Compliance & Risk Management and Chief Information Security Officer, Miami University
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Spencer Wood, Advisor, CISA
Peter Voderberg, chief of BroadbandOhio, provided updates on the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion program, which aims to provide affordable broadband internet service to 130,000 unserved and underserved residents in the state over the next four years.
OARnet’s next Member Meeting will be held on May 14, 2025, in conjunction with the Ohio Higher Education Computing Council (OHECC) conference at University of Cincinnati.
Members may provide feedback on the Member Meeting through this online form or can contact their Business Relationship Manager with any follow-up questions or comments about the content of the meeting.
Written by Andrea Gibson
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Since 1987, OARnet has delivered technology-based solutions that reduce costs, increase productivity and improve customer service. As a division of the Ohio Department of Higher Education's Ohio Technology Consortium, OARnet serves Ohio's education, health care, public broadcasting and government communities. Other members of the consortium include the Ohio Supercomputer Center and OhioLINK.
