In Search of a Better Internet

Berkeley’s ICSI Teams with Finland’s HIIT to Invent a New Internet Architecture
When a world-renowned research institute is tasked with re-inventing the very architecture of the Internet, it looks to Finland for expert collaboration and assistance.

ICSI (International Computer Science Institute) is a non-profit, independent research institute that has a close affiliation with University of California at Berkeley. It also has a unique focus on international collaboration. Tackling problems such as bioinformatics, artificial intelligence and computer architecture, ICSI is a home to many serious computer geniuses looking to make a difference in the world.

Throughout its research, ICSI has often collaborated with the Helsinki Institute of Information Technology (HIIT) to share resources and intellectual talent. ICSI also has received generous research funding contributions from FinNode since 2001. So when ICSI accepted a daunting assignment to develop a new architecture for the Internet, it partnered with HIIT to set up a mutually directed research institute called the Center for Novel Internet Architecture to take on the task.

The new Center for Novel Internet Architecture will explore radical solutions for a better, more secure, and more reliable future Internet. It will operate as a 5-year program through joint research activities, faculty and researcher exchanges, and joint events to be run both in Finland and in California.

"The researchers in Finland are sympathetic with our ideas for a new Internet architecture and what we want to accomplish," said Professor Scott Shenker, director of the Networking Group at ICSI. "HIIT is no doubt the best group to work with to solve this immense and vexing challenge."