2024 was the year in which the GÉANT Association started significant transitional processes to position and prepare the Association and its community for the future, while continuing to operate our network and deliver our services at the highest level of reliability.

Throughout the year, conversations with our members and partners focused on the wider need to deliver our network and services ‘as one’, to ensure the best possible service for all of our community. This meant that not only did we refresh our Interconnection Policy, but that in parallel we adapted to the security clauses in the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and Digital Europe Programme (DEP) funding envelopes, by adjusting our Association statutes and ensuring the GÉANT Association continues to meet the eligibility criteria of these programmes. In this context the GÉANT Association, just like many of our members, started an ISO27001 certification process to enhance and document our security maturity. Our ability to respond to public procurement across the EU Members States was well tested: initially with the EOSC.eu Node procurement, where GÉANT became a key partner in the delivery, and latterly in Q4 when years of following the developments in EuroHPC and preparing the community came to fruition, when the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (JU) published the hyperconnectivity tender with a submission date in early 2025.

When it comes to projects, 2024 was again a year of new beginnings and successful continuation. GN5-1 came to an end and the successor project GN5-2 was successfully submitted to commence on 1 January 2025. The EUMEDplus project was launched in September, representing a significant step forward in enhancing digital connectivity and research collaboration across the Arab Mediterranean countries and Europe and ensuring the MEDUSA cable system will reach thriving communities. With the EaPConnect project ending in 2025, we also invited the EaPConnect partners in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to fully join the GÉANT membership, bringing long-term sustainability to the region.

We commenced a new level of engagement with the European e-infrastructure partners in the e-infrastructure Assembly when we signed an MoU in October 2024. This MoU focuses on increasing our visibility as underlying providers to the European Research and Knowledge Areas and Europe’s Research Infrastructures. As the GÉANT community, we continued our involvement with the Open Science environment, through the EOSC Association and its community, and came together in a new innovation programme activity which pilots a Digital Research Environment for GÉANT and its members.

Further preparing our future, we carried out the “Foresight 2030 – Navigating Change” Study, prepared by the team of authors led by our Polish member PSNC with the help of experts from GÉANT members, as well as extensive input from the wider community.

And last not least, the GÉANT Association experienced a significant change in November, when Erik Huizer stepped down after seven very successful years as the Association’s CEO. Erik brought the merger of DANTE and TERENA to a successful conclusion, when he created one flourishing culture across the two GÉANT offices and led the team with safe hands and creativity through the pandemic. He initiated the support for our colleagues in URAN, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Erik brought stability and consistent growth to the GÉANT organisation, and I would like to again express my gratitude to him on behalf of the entire Association.

I am very pleased that in late November, Lise Fuhr joined GÉANT as our new CEO. Lise joined us from ETNO, where she served for nine years as Director General. With a history of positions in public registry organisations, Lise is also Chair of the Danish Cyber security organisation Security Tech Space and a member of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum Leadership Panel. It is my pleasure to again welcome Lise to the GÉANT Association and to wish her success in guiding the organisation and our membership into a thriving future.

2025 is likely to bring its share of changes, making sure that we continue our evolution to remain the R&E community’s reliable partner, in a time where the geopolitical relationships are thoroughly tested. Let us remain an anchor for the intercontinental relationships of our community by living our values and supporting colleagues worldwide.