One of the year’s earliest breakthroughs—our practical Quantum Key Distribution demonstration across 254 km of standard telecom fibre—showcased how our community can turn emerging technologies into real-world capability, using the networks we already operate and trust.  

As the year progressed, we reinforced our commitment to security and reliability by achieving ISO 27001 certification. In a Europe where cross border digital collaboration is growing rapidly, this milestone underscored our dedication to transparency, maturity, and best practice in information security.  

We then saw the GÉANT community gather in record numbers, with more than 900 participants from 72 countries joining us for our largest TNC to date. The diversity, curiosity, and energy on display reminded us why this community is so unique—and why it continues to inspire.  

Mid‑year, our backbone restructuring programme, GN4‑3N (2019-2023), was nominated for a European Digital Connectivity Award, reflecting the engineering excellence and forward-looking design that underpin our work. Later, we brought GÉANT’s and our members’ voice to Brussels for our first multi‑stakeholder policy conference with 65 high-level representatives of the European NREN community and officials of six different Directorate Generals of the European Commission coming together. Despite national disruptions, our community showed up, engaged deeply, and ensured that research and education networking remained firmly on the policy agenda also in Brussels. Well done, all!  

October was also the month we opened a one-person office in Brussels to help focus on the MFF negotiations but also being the eyes and ears of the GÉANT Association. We have already gotten positive feedback from our stakeholders in Brussels on the move.   

Toward the end of the year, our Fibre Sensing Task in GN5‑2 delivered another powerful demonstration of what our infrastructure can enable. Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing on a live production fibre, the team showed how research networks can serve as scientific instruments—detecting everything from road traffic to low‑flying aircraft—once again expanding our understanding of what is possible.  

Throughout this period, we continued our internal restructuring and advanced the development of a new association strategy—work that ensures GÉANT remains agile, ambitious, and equipped for the opportunities ahead.  

But progress this year was not only strategic or technological—it was also deeply human. The launch of the Humanitarian Support Group for NRENs stands as a powerful reflection of our community’s values. Inspired by the extraordinary support offered to URAN, the Ukrainian NREN, this new structure ensures that solidarity can be mobilised quickly and effectively when any NREN faces crisis or disruption. It reinforces what many of us know instinctively: the strength of GÉANT lies not only in its physical networks but in its human networks too.  

Looking back on 2025, one thing is undeniable: our work matters, our impact is growing, and our community—collaborative, resilient, and committed—continues to deliver for Europe and for global research and education. I am looking forward to continuing the excellent work we are doing together in 2026 and to finalise our strategy for 2026-2030.