OARnet celebrates 35 years of connecting Ohio communities through cutting-edge technology “Ohio’s One Network, a long-time partnership with OARnet, has provided tremendous economies of scale for state agencies,” said Katrina Flory, the State of The size and cohesion of OARnet’s network Ohio’s chief information officer and head of enables it to rapidly adopt new technologies. the Office of Information Technology within Currently, OARnet is on track to be one of the Ohio Department of Administrative the first networks in the nation to upgrade The Ohio Department of Higher Education Services. “OARnet’s strong understanding (ODHE) founded OARnet in 1987 to provide its statewide fiber-optic backbone from 100 of the broadband needs of both the state and Gbps to 400 Gbps. OARnet was one of the Ohio researchers with their first online the research and education communities, first five networks to connect to Internet2 at access to the high performance computing as well as assistance with resources of the Ohio the aggregate purchases Supercomputer Center, of bandwidth and other established that same year. important services, has helped Since that time, OARnet advance many initiatives has expanded to serve the beneficial to Ohio.” K-12 education, state and Higher Ed Sites Public Broadcasting K–12 Schools Sites local government, public Sites In addition to technology broadcasting, health care, upgrades and aggregate and Next Generation 911 purchasing arrangements, emergency call center OARnet is adding value to the communities, delivering State of Ohio by expanding more than 5,500 miles its cybersecurity efforts. of fiber-optic broadband OARnet recently hired its connectivity and onLocal Govt Sites Health Care first cybersecurity architect demand configuration to Facilities to ensure the integrity of match each client’s diverse the network by monitoring needs. security practices at the organization and evaluating In the last few years, relevant security services for OARnet also has worked OARnet members, including closely with the state’s those with heightened new InnovateOhio and State Govt Sites Research Sites NG911 ESInet cybersecurity requirements BroadbandOhio initiatives, Sites due to infrastructure-related joining public-private vulnerabilities. partnerships that seek 400 Gbps and continues to make technology to address the remaining unserved and “OARnet’s ability to develop strong changes that ensure the redundancy and underserved broadband regions of Ohio. partnerships with entities in the public and reliability of its service. private sectors helps widen the organization’s “OARnet is an important part of the State of positive impact,” said Randy Gardner, OARnet’s scale also provides savings Ohio’s broadband infrastructure and access chancellor of the ODHE. “Because of to customers in the form of aggregate efforts,” said Lt. Governor Jon Husted. OARnet’s vision and planning, a core purchasing. One such solution is VMware, a “The team has done an excellent job of technology that provides a platform for cloud strength developed in service of higher working closely with InnovateOhio and education now touches the lives of all citizens computing and virtualization, which clients BroadbandOhio to determine how OARnet’s can access at a reduced cost through OARnet. in Ohio.” expertise, resources and partnerships can In 2022, the Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet) and its partners in the State of Ohio celebrated its 35th anniversary, reflected on the organization’s evolution, growth, accomplishments and impact.
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The Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet), a division of the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s Ohio Technology Consortium (OH-TECH), serves the state’s government, education, healthcare and public broadcasting communities. Through innovative public-private partnerships and a state-of-the-art fiber optic network, OARnet expands access to affordable broadband and delivers critical networking and technology services for academic and commercial R&D. www.oar.net 14