US Ignite will promote U.S. leadership in the development of applications and services for ultra-fast networks

The primary goal of the US Ignite Partnership will be to catalyze approximately 60 advanced, next-gen applications over the next five years in six areas of national priority: education and workforce development, advanced manufacturing, health, transportation, public safety, and clean energy. Responsibilities of the Partnership will include connecting, convening, and supporting startups, local and state government, universities, industry leaders, federal agencies, foundations, and community and carrier initiatives in conceptualizing and building new applications. The resulting new applications should have a significant impact on the U.S. economy, including providing a broad range of job and investment opportunities.

US Ignite’s mission is threefold:

1. Spur the development of next-generation applications and digital experiences specifically designed for advanced-technology networks
2. Maximize the potential of the GENI project’s national testbed network, a platform initially connecting 14 campuses and 6 cities providing symmetrical speeds of at least 100 Mbps
3. Establish the US Ignite Partnership, a non-profit, public-private organization, to ensure new applications offer high-impact public benefit and/or high potential for commercialization

The advanced technologies that will power the US Ignite initiative have been developed through the National Science Foundation’s GENI (Global Environment for Network Innovation) program and by US Ignite’s commercial partners. Flexibility is provided through the use of Software-Defined Networking. Speed is provided by symmetric ultra-fast connections. And “GENI Racks” power the low-latency, programmable local cloud capabilities available to US Ignite applications. “The combination of these three factors changes the game for applications developers,” said US Ignite Chief Technology Officer Glenn Ricart.