1. Sustainability model for NRENs Goal: establishing/upgrading the R&E network + international connectivity Supposed background: single NREN covering the entire R&E community –Country-wide joint efforts (expertise, equipment, contacts, resources) –Chances of successful lobbying for domestic/international support –Legitimate participation in international organisations/activities –Natural way of connection to international networks NREN network hierarchy: –End user –Campus LAN –University/institute network –Regional access network –NREN network (backbone) –International network (GEANT) International connectivity: through central NREN node (PoP) Sustainability: stable/developing infrastructure/services/applications

2. Components of a suggested sustainability model - 1 Supportive political and legal environment  Political/moral support on behalf of European/international organisations  Stable, conflict-free political situation in the country  Awareness of the importance of R&E networking on behalf of the government  Political/moral support to the NREN community on behalf of the government  Appropriate legal environment for NREN operation and services  Preferable customs regulations and taxation rules/conditions  Liberalisation, as early as possible, of the telecommunication market Enabling technical and infrastructural background  Availability of affordable networking equipment  Availability of reasonably priced background (telecom) infrastructure  Scalability of the NREN infrastructure (allowing smooth gradual upgrades) Availability of financial resources  Annually increasing local governmental funding (preferably close to 100 %)  Availability of additional sources of funding (internal/external)

3. Components of a suggested sustainability model - 2 Stable NREN organisation and operation  Stable and harmonious country-wide co-operation in research networking  Well-defined powers and responsibilities, clear decision making mechanisms  Politically independent NREN operation  Top-down management + bottom-up representation of user interests  Clear, GEANT-conform, consistently applied AUP Availability of technical expertise within the NREN  Expertise for developing/operating the network infrastructure  Reproducible development/management/technical/administrative staff  Organisational and technical support on behalf of the European NRENs  Demanding user community (exploiting the benefits of the infrastructure)  Continuous feed-back of the user experiences to the developing/operating staff TERENA, DANTE, CEENET and the NREN Consortium are available to the single Ukrainian NREN for partnership!