Have we given the users’ what they want over the last 20 years?
Shirley Wood, UKERNA, UK

Use of the Internet has grown and changed significantly over the last 20 years and similarly the technology has also changed allowing a greater freedom in how we access the Internet and where we access it from. There have been changes in the telecommunications market which have allowed the National Research and Education Networks to provide networks with higher bandwidths for similar costs. We have seen the move from network connections at 9.6kbit/s to connections at gigabit speeds. In recent years the NRENs have started to move away from the services provided by the telecommunication suppliers to the provision of their own fibre optic networks. This talk will look at some of the changes in this area and how it has impacted on the way NRENs operate

Over 20 years ago it was mainly the scientists who were using the Internet and major computing facilities and now these users are still major users of the Internet and the facilities it offers but their requirements have changed. With the advent of the world wide web the user community increased significantly and these new communities have diverse requirements. How are the NRENs capturing and evaluating the users’ requirements and ensuring that services are delivered that the user really wants. There are many new challenges that NRENs now have to face when providing a good, secure service to the user. This talk will look at the diversity of the users and the changes over the years as well as looking at the needs of the community in the next few years.

Biography

Shirley Wood is the Customer Support Director for UKERNA. Her particular responsibilities cover JANET Customer Service including domain names under ac.uk and ip addressing, information services including documentation and the web services, workshops, training, liaison with both current and potential users of JANET and public relations including dealing with the media. Shirley is part of the executive management team that collectively manage the divisional structure of the company.

Shirley currently is a member of the Executive of TERENA where she has specific responsibilities for conferences. TERENA carries out technical activities and provides a platform for discussion to encourage the development of a high-quality computer networking infrastructure for the European research community.

During her time in both UKERNA and the 'Joint Network Team' she has been responsible for the creation of the Customer Service Desk, the expansion of the number of events organised by UKERNA and the creation of information services and the training sections.

Prior to joining the Joint Network Team, Shirley worked for the Science and Engineering Research Council providing systems and network support to the 'Interactive Computing Facility' and for the machines running SERCNET. She joined the Joint Network Team in 1986 and worked in the Network Executive on user support issues related to the network. In April 1994 she was transferred with the rest of the Joint Network Team to UKERNA.

Shirley began her career as a systems programmer on large IBM mainframe machines working for the UK’s Atomic Energy Authority.

She has an HNC in Computer Studies and a B.Tech in Computer Science. She is also a member of the British Computer Society.