The changing relation between the NREN and the government in Hungary Bálint Lajos, NIIF Institute TERENA TF-MSP meeting Alcala de Henares, 6-7 May 2013

Nemzeti Információs Infrastruktúra Fejlesztési Intézet NIIFI and the government TF-MSP 6-7 May 2013 Alcala 2 Contents  NIIFI & Hungarnet status and history  Embedding and wider environment  Recent overall changes in Hungary  Recent overall changes in NREN roles / functions  Warning signals to NRENs in Europe  The bomb in Hungary at late 2010  NIIFI’s fight for freedom and liberty  Final (?) outcome early 2013  Advantages and disadvantages  Lessons to learn

Nemzeti Információs Infrastruktúra Fejlesztési Intézet NIIFI and the government TF-MSP 6-7 May 2013 Alcala 3 NIIFI & HungarNet status and history  NIIF Institute o top-down hierarchy o government control, funding (100 % … 50 %) o independent execution (development & operation)  HungarNet o bottom-up hierarchy o membership control, no funding o independent representation of user interest  status o independent legal entities o close cooperation, joint actions  history  periodic fighting for survival (changing governments …)  alternate focus on NIIFI or HungarNet – depending on risks

Nemzeti Információs Infrastruktúra Fejlesztési Intézet NIIFI and the government TF-MSP 6-7 May 2013 Alcala 4 Embedding and wider environment Government control and funding of NIIFI  Changing umbrella ministry in every 4 year (Education, Industry, Economy … Academy … Development)  Repeated informal govt. testing of NIIFI loyalty and fairness  Repeated trial of discontinuing / commercialising / merging NIIFI  Central funding increased until late 90’s, decreasing since then Changing relations to commercial operators (partnership / competition)  Technology and macro market (since TEN-34)  Micro market (10K … 700K … 2500K users)  Good luck:  Definite continuous willingness of keeping political neutrality  Single organisation (NIIFI) comprising complete e-Infrastructure (networking, grids, clouds, HPC, VRC, data …)

Nemzeti Információs Infrastruktúra Fejlesztési Intézet NIIFI and the government TF-MSP 6-7 May 2013 Alcala 5 Recent overall changes  Recent overall changes in Hungary o General elections every 4 years (latest: Mid-2010, abs.majority) o Intention of increasing government control o Deprivatisation, mergers … decreasing freedom in operations  Recent overall changes in NREN roles / functions  Vertical opening (new e-Infrastructure functions, wider portfolio)  Horizontal opening (widening user community: govt., health, PPP)  Changing attitude / habit (focus on innovation, friendliness …)  Changing priorities (sustainability, stability, business models)  Warning signals to NRENs in Europe  RoEduNet, FuNet, FCCN … (govt. reactions to crisis etc.)  different responses (from fighting to resignation …)

Nemzeti Információs Infrastruktúra Fejlesztési Intézet NIIFI and the government TF-MSP 6-7 May 2013 Alcala 6 The late 2010 bomb in Hungary Draft Government Decree 346/2010:  Intention of integrating all public ICT functions (govt., taxation, army, police, fire brigade, ambulance, …)  NIIFI among the involved organisations (!) Fight for jointly acceptable / agreeable solution (freedom & liberty):  Immediate start early 2011  NIIFI not alone trying to escape  Dozens of actions during : o letters, discussions o modification requests, suggested alternative text versions Our major weapons (references):  International relations (eligibility), projects (contracts), funds (eg.SF)  Internal responsibilities (research, education), risks (degradation)  HungarNet in the background

Nemzeti Információs Infrastruktúra Fejlesztési Intézet NIIFI and the government TF-MSP 6-7 May 2013 Alcala 7 Final (?) outcome early 2013 Background parallel happenings:  Discontinued ICT support by incumbent (govt. intention)  Plans for separate govt.network on MVM DF background (el.comp.)  NIIFI discussions with MVM on DF IRU Outcome:  NIIFI CEF DWDM optical backbone on MVM DF  NIIFI equipment + NIIFI mgmt. – free capacity (60%) offered to MVM  MVM free capacity (managed by NIIFI) offered to govt. (expertise!)  Independent NIIFI operation, limited contribution to govt.backbone Additional elements of the early 2013 solution:  Schoolnet (Sulinet in Hungary) overtaken by NIIFI (5000 / 1,8M)  Community net (Koznet in Hungary) of libraries, e-Hungary nodes too  Modified 346/2010 (on govt.networks) govt.decree approved  Modified 5/2011 (on NIIFI) govt.decree approved

Nemzeti Információs Infrastruktúra Fejlesztési Intézet NIIFI and the government TF-MSP 6-7 May 2013 Alcala 8 Advantages and disavantages + Lessons Of course nothing is perfect …  Advantages: o stable e-Infrastructure o promising sustainability  Disadvantages: o staff shortage o Jolly Joker functions o horizontal opening questionable (children rather than innovators) Lessons learned / to learn:  ”never give up”  ”be continuously alerted”  ”act/react immediately” and ”apply your weapons”  ”try to keep political independence”

Nemzeti Információs Infrastruktúra Fejlesztési Intézet NIIFI and the government TF-MSP 6-7 May 2013 Alcala 9 Here we are at the moment … Challenging but difficult …  Difficult but challenging …