A photo illustration of netowk nodes connected by lines overlaying an aerial photo of a rural landscape.

Feature

Exploring new technologies for advanced networking security and performance is critical to Link Oregon’s mission of providing state-of-the-art broadband services to all its members, and especially for research computing. This summer, Ram Durairajan, Associate Professor, School of Computer and Data Sciences at the University of Oregon, joins us on his sabbatical year as our Chief Scientist. We spoke to him about the opportunities to use data analysis to better understand gaps in broadband coverage across Oregon, the use of self-supervised learning models to improve network security and the critical urgency to improve resiliency and redundancy of the global Internet.

Student working with Genome research machinery

Member Feature

Oregon State University (OSU), one of Link Oregon’s founding members, is emerging as a premier national interdisciplinary research hub for supercomputing and AI, across diverse domains such as robotics, climate science, materials science and sustainability. Andrea Ballinger, OSU CIO and Link Oregon Board Member, is leading digital transformation initiatives across the university. She talked to us about how AI technologies could help personalize learning experiences for students and why high-speed broadband connectivity across Oregon is critical for the land grant institution to execute on its mission to democratize access to higher ed.

Who We Are

Link Oregon is a federally tax-exempt 501(c)(3) Oregon non-profit organization and the Research and Education Network (REN) for the state of Oregon, serving the public and non-profit sectors. We operate a statewide middle mile fiber optic infrastructure spanning over 2500 miles that delivers state-of-the-art broadband services to our member organizations. We collaborate with a vast network of ecosystem partners, spanning commercial telecom providers, legislators, broadband policy leaders, digital equity advocates and non-profit affiliates who are vital to our mission to expand high-speed broadband connectivity across the state for a future-ready Oregon.

Link Oregon Founding Members

Oregon Enterprise Information Systems logo
Oregon State University logo
Oregon Health and Science University logo
Portland State Universty logo
University of Oregon logo

“Link Oregon’s broadband services for Internet transit have provided rock-solid connectivity to our employees and over 21,000 students at Portland State University. Their high-speed networking is critical for research at our institution that relies on computationally dense data workloads, such as cybersecurity, geohazard simulation and atmospheric modeling. Link Oregon’s network will also support our newest high performance computing (HPC) cluster funded by the National Science Foundation’s Campus Cybersecurity Program. We look forward to ongoing collaborations with their amazing team of network engineers on strategic initiatives that go beyond basic Internet connectivity.”

– Ryan Bass, Chief Information Officer, Portland State University

Who We Serve

Our services are available to all public and non-profit entities in Oregon, including K-12 schools and Educational Service Districts (ESDs), community colleges and universities, public and non-profit hospitals and clinics, city and county government, Tribes, libraries and other community anchor institutions.

Members benefit from our seasoned leadership, deep domain experience in networking, telecommunications partnerships and understanding of Oregon’s broadband ecosystem. Learn more about the services we provide to our member institutions.

INTERESTED IN OUR SERVICES?

Students walk along a sidewalk past banners that read Portland Community College

Link Oregon Blog

  • 2024 Annual Member Meeting Highlights June 27, 2024 The full recording is available here. Link Oregon’s annual member meeting for 2024, held on June 24th via Zoom, brought together a diverse community of members and partners in the broadband ecosystem from Oregon and across the country to share insights about broadband and digital equity efforts. Panelists included local, statewide and regional leaders from […]
  • Strategic Middle Mile Investments Can Minimize Last Mile Islands but Choosing Right Fiber is Key June 1, 2024 In 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded a grant to Zayo Group, LLC for $48 million to address a long-standing set of middle mile needs in Oregon as well as parts of California and Nevad.. The grant was part of NTIA’s Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, a $980 million program which […]
  • With Artificial Intelligence, Fiber Optic Broadband Finds Its Ultimate App April 19, 2024 Last week, one of Link Oregon’s founding members—Oregon State University—celebrated the groundbreaking of the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, which will be home to one of the world’s fastest university supercomputers capable of training very large artificial intelligence (AI) models and advancing research in other computationally-intensive domains such as materials science, […]
  • 2023 In Review: Laying The Groundwork For Broadband & Digital Equity For All Oregonians December 29, 2023 As we prepare to see 2023 in our rear-view mirrors, what stands out the most is the significant body of activity undertaken this year by the State of Oregon (led by the Oregon Broadband Office or the “OBO”) to lay the groundwork for anticipated historic levels of broadband investment by the National Telecommunications and Information […]
  • Legislative Session Successes: Broadband & Cybersecurity July 27, 2023 The 83rd Oregon Legislature declared “sine die” (the conclusion of the legislative session) on June 25, just hours before the constitutional deadline to conduct business on the Senate floor and vote on bills and budgets. The six-week walkout by some Senators threatened to prevent votes on key state investment and policy bills that would help […]
  • Link Oregon Strategic Plan June 26, 2023 The Board of Directors adopted Link Oregon’s first strategic plan in April 2023. The plan was developed in consultation with staff and members from all sectors. Read our strategic plan here.
  • On Internet Exchange Points and Local Peering in the Time of COVID-19 April 27, 2020 One lesson that the COVID-19 pandemic has already taught us is the importance of getting engaged and responding quickly in the face of the unexpected. And while it’s not clear exactly what impact working from home while sheltering in place will have on our networks over the long haul, we do know that network traffic […]

Events

K-12 eduroam Day

Nov 14, 2024
9:00am-1:00pm
Location: Virtual via Zoom

Save the date for a half-day, multi-state K-12 eduroam workshop facilitated by Internet2. This training will feature technical discussions and breakouts for specific architectures and environments, and the opportunity to learn from colleagues in other states with experience in various approaches. Agenda and Zoom link to come.

Past Events

Our Members

Benton County Oregon
Blue Mountian Community College
Bushnell University
City of Corvalis
Corvalis-Benton County Public LIbrary
Eastern Oregon University
Eugene Water & Electric Board
Eugene
Hermiston Oregon
High Desert ESD
InterMountain Education Service District
Klamath Community College
Lane Community College
Lane Transit District
Linn-Benton Community College
Malheur ESD
Oregon Enterprise Information Systems logo
Oregon Health and Science University logo
Oregon State University logo
Oregon Institute of Technology
Portland Community College
Portland State Universty logo
Southern Oregon ESD
Southern Oregon University
Springfield Public Schools
Springfield Utility Board
University of Oregon logo
Western Oregon University