Press Releases
2021-22 OARnet Annual Report
I am pleased to share with you OARnet’s annual report for the 2021-22 fiscal year. As we celebrate our 35th anniversary, we are excited about the progress we have made as an organization over the last year and about the major initiatives that lie ahead.
OARnet launches network upgrade for Ohio’s PreK-12 schools
Federal grant supports major boost to educational bandwidth
The Management Council and OARnet will boost the bandwidth of Ohio's PreK-12 schools from 10 to 100 Gbps thanks to an ESSER Fund grant.
OARnet hosts in-person spring 2022 member meeting
The Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet) hosted its biannual member in-person meeting on May 18 at Ohio University in conjunction with the Ohio Higher Education Computing Council conference. The meeting featured OARnet’s latest projects, a presentation from BroadbandOhio and panel discussions on security and workforce development.
BroadbandOhio leverages OARnet’s statewide backbone to boost connectivity in Ohio’s unserved and underserved areas
State broadband initiative unites public, private and not-for-profit partners to expand affordable high-speed internet access
Over the last two years, OARnet has worked with the state’s BroadbandOhio initiative to explore how to expand broadband service to underserved and unserved areas of Ohio.
OARnet connects with Denison Edge in downtown Columbus
New workforce development program links students, industry experts
A new program is connecting college students with business professionals in Columbus to help them accelerate their careers. Denison Edge, launched by Denison University, is a last-mile skills program designed to support Ohio liberal arts students seeking to gain industry expertise, leadership skills and business acumen.
OARnet's upgrade to 400G profiled by Juniper Networks
Scaling Ohio's fiber optic backbone while preserving existing capital investments and expertise
In a new case study, Juniper details OARnet's work to stay ahead of growing client needs for cloud computing, network services and more by .
OARnet among Internet2's "First to 400G"
Upgrades to Cleveland and Cincinnati connections improve access to national research and education network
The Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet) is one of the first five Research and Education Networks in the nation to initiate a 400 Gigabit per second (Gbps) connection to the Internet2 Network by the end of 2021, with work due for completion this year.
New partnership bolsters Cincinnati-area higher education network
OARnet takes on management of fiber network segment serving several colleges and universities
For 15 years, the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and Xavier University shared the Cincinnati Education and Research Fiber Ring (CERF) to support the education and research missions of their schools. When the schools learned in fall 2021 that the CERF ring would no longer be donated by their benefactor, the members reached out to OARnet for assistance.
Ohio BMV pilots self-service kiosks with help from OARnet
New initiative will increase public accessibility to motor vehicle services
In an effort to make its services easier to access, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) recently announced the launch of nine self-service kiosks at deputy registrar and retail locations around the state. These kiosks, currently in a pilot phase, will allow Ohio drivers to renew their vehicle registration and print out their new registration cards and validation stickers while minimizing wait times at the BMV.
OARnet awarded National Science Foundation grant to develop STEM training and research resources for higher education
Facing a growing need for secured education cyberinfrastructure, OARnet and partners will develop the Virtual Research-Education Ohio (VROhio) program
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded OARnet a planning grant to develop a network of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) training and research resources for smaller higher education institutions in the state of Ohio.
In December 2020, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine allocated $12.1 million through the Governors Emergency Education Relief program to upgrade OARnet's last-mile internet connections to 40 colleges and universities.
