The GÉANT Association continues to closely monitor advice and recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and from Dutch and UK governments regarding the coronavirus.
GÉANT's Health and Safety Committee utilises this information in decision-making regarding international travel and other considerations.
We will continue to support our partners in the most effective way possible whilst ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our staff and the wider GÉANT Community.
The Health and Safety of our staff and contractors, their families and communities are our first concern. GÉANT's Health and Safety Committee has worked together for many years and we now see the benefits of this well-established trusted relationship between the Health and Safety Officer, representatives of GÉANT's Executive Team, the Dutch PVT and members of staff from our locations in Cambridge and Amsterdam. Together with the Health and Safety Committee, GÉANT's Executive team and CEO monitor the situation and communicate in a transparent way with staff and contractors.
Last week, we took the decision to suspend all future travel bookings, unless very urgent business requires travel. Such urgent requirements are judged on a case by case basis with a final decision from our CEO.
At this point in time and following official guidelines, our office spaces in Cambridge and Amsterdam remain open. We have advised our staff and contractors to reduce the amount of face to face meetings with visitors where possible.
Following the Dutch prime minister's press conference on 12 March 2020, we are encouraging our Dutch staff and contractors to work from home as much as possible.
Over the past year and due to a more agile office environment in our locations in Cambridge and Amsterdam, the majority of GÉANT's staff and contractors have experienced working remotely or from home. We are at this moment ensuring that we can scale the ability of working from home to 100% of all staff and contractors over the next few days. It is our objective to be fully prepared should the situation arise in which we are asked to work from home by the respective national authorities.
GÉANT operations
GÉANT operations are closely monitoring the situation in all countries where GÉANT network POP locations exist. We are following WHO advice regarding international travel relating to these locations. Network Operations Centre activity in the UK is unaffected and all non-essential travel by NOC staff has been suspended.
The situation is not currently affecting existing network services to the NREN and R&E community. Fault rectification and associated first line maintenance activities are outsourced and performed by in-country resources and therefore are not reliant on GÉANT engineering staff to travel. At this moment, our suppliers are confident about first line maintenance support and we are currently assessing with our suppliers the impact on ordering of new equipment.
Until more clarity exists, planned physical Network Architecture changes and upgrades have been largely suspended. Only service-critical changes will be performed using GÉANT operations staff who will observe all advice regarding minimising risk of exposure.
Should in-country travel by 3rd party engineering resource be restricted by the respective national government authorities or otherwise, then GÉANT operations will inform the local NREN and discuss any mitigation measures.
GÉANT operations continue to monitor the situation and are regularly in communication with key suppliers of equipment, logistics and engineering services and will inform users of any significant changes to the current approach.
TNC20
GÉANT and Jisc remain committed to TNC20 with unchanged enthusiasm and dedication. To provide additional time before registering, the Early Bird registration has been extended to 31 March 2020.
5 March 2020 Update
The GÉANT Association continues to closely monitor advice and recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and from Dutch and UK governments regarding the coronavirus.
GÉANT's Health and Safety Committee utilises this information in decision-making regarding international travel and other considerations.
We will continue to support our partners in the most effective way possible whilst ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our staff and the wider GÉANT Community.
TNC20
GÉANT and Jisc remain committed to TNC20 with unchanged enthusiasm and dedication. To provide additional time before registering, the Early Bird registration has been extended to 31 March 2020.
GÉANT operations
GÉANT operations are closely monitoring the situation in all countries where GÉANT network POP locations exist. We are following WHO advice regarding international travel relating to these locations. Network Operations Centre activity in the UK is unaffected and all non-essential travel by NOC staff has been suspended.
The situation is not currently affecting existing network services to the NREN and R&E community. Fault rectification and associated first line maintenance activities are outsourced and performed by in-country resources and therefore are not reliant on GÉANT engineering staff to travel.
Until more clarity exists, planned physical Network Architecture changes and upgrades have been largely suspended. Only service-critical changes will be performed using GÉANT operations staff who will observe all advice regarding minimising risk of exposure.
Should in-country travel by 3rd party engineering resource be restricted by the respective national government authorities or otherwise, then GÉANT operations will inform the local NREN and discuss any mitigation measures.
GÉANT operations continue to monitor the situation and are regularly in communication with key suppliers of equipment, logistics and engineering services and will inform users of any significant changes to the current approach.
