Network Participants

Internet2 provides high-performance networking among participating members, as well as other organizations whose connectivity benefits higher education in the United States. Any organization that subscribes to or uses Internet2 services through a connector, through a direct connection, or through any other route is considered an Internet2 Participant.

Internet2 exists to advance the goal of facilitating and enabling the development of advanced network applications, services, and content that enable routine collaboration on instructional, clinical, and/or research projects, services, and content among participants. Participants fall into two categories: Primary and Sponsored. Within the Sponsored Participation category there are two classes, Sponsored Individual Institutions, and Sponsored Educational Group.

View the list of Participants.

Primary Participants

Regular University members, and Affiliate and Corporate members with Collaboration Site Status. Primary institutions are typically colleges and universities, but may also be other types of research organizations with the capability of committing and deploying the substantial resources necessary to implement Internet2 capabilities.

Sponsored Participants

Sponsored participants are individual educational institutions (including not-for-profit and for-profit K-20, technical, and trade schools), museums, art galleries, libraries, hospitals, as well as other non-educational, not-for-profit or for-profit organizations that require routine collaboration on instructional, clinical, and/or research projects, services, and content with Primary participants or with other Sponsored Participants. Such organizations typically are either not eligible or not able to become Internet2 members.

Sponsored Educational Group Participants

Sponsored Educational Group Participants (SEGPs) are individual research and education organizations that are engaged in collaboration with an Internet2 member or other sponsored participants on instructional, research, clinical or content-related projects. The impetus for sponsorship is the existence or planned existence of a collaborative project designed to develop or use advanced applications or further the deployment and use of advanced networking capabilities.

SEGPs are aggregations of educational organizations brought together in a state-wide or other wide-area network within a state. Examples of these aggregations are state-wide K-12 networks, community college networks, and similar collectives of educational organizations. These networks are engaged in applications development and other projects designed to enhance their use of advanced networking infrastructure and services.

Each SEGP is invloved in the Internet2 K20 Initiative.

spectrum