Connected member

In an academic environment, where innovation and openness are central, the risks from cyber threats are particularly high. Belgium's largest university, KU Leuven, has been proactively raising awareness and training its more than 15,000 staff members for years. With success, as the e-mune programme has become a strong brand at the university. GÉANT was curious about its approach and visited Sofie Pieraerd, a member of the management team for ICTS – KU Leuven's central IT department – and Karel Titeca, responsible for communications within ICTS.

Since 2016, Belnet has been connecting the Federal Scientific Institutions (FSIs) with the internet and each other using the ScienceMAN network. One of the best known member organisations is undoubtedly the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI).

The Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) called upon Belnet's expertise to host its podcast service 'EZcast'. We spoke to Michel Jansens and Fatima El Fakih from the SISC (Shared ICT Services Center of the ULB-VUB) about the successful collaboration.

Thanks to the technology developed by the Institute of Astronomy and the high-performance Belnet connection, (future) astronomers will be able to continue their research from 3,000 kilometres away during the COVID-19 crisis. Belnet spoke with Prof. Hans Van Winckel, Head of Astronomy at the KU Leuven.