SAN DIEGO, CA -- The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology [Cal-(IT)2] and the southern California Next Generation Internet [CalNGI] initiative are teaming up to develop and test applications that will run on future iterations of the World Wide Web. The new partners will collaborate with California companies through the recently-opened CalNGI Application Center at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). To launch their new partnership, Cal-(IT)2 and CalNGI co-sponsored a workshop last Thursday in San Diego called “Demystifying Internet Quality of Service.” “Together with CalNGI, we are committed to ensuring that California lead the nation and the world in the design and commercialization of the next-generation Internet,” said Ramesh Rao, Director of the UCSD division of Cal-(IT)2. “The institute is already deploying testbeds for advanced technologies, and this partnership will allow us to accelerate the research and development work our academic and industry partners are doing on Web applications we see burgeoning over the next five to ten years.” Both organizations have roots in the University of California, San Diego. Cal-(IT)2 is a collaboration of UCSD and UC Irvine. CalNGI is based at SDSC, which is also part of UCSD. CalNGI opened in December 2001, with funding from the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), and CommerceNet, a global, not-for-profit organization for the advancement of eCommerce worldwide. “Cal-(IT)2’s participation gives CalNGI a very deep bench of experts as we tap into the institute’s inter-disciplinary team of 220 academic researchers and more than 50 industry partners,” said Mike Vildibill, the CalNGI Director who also directs SDSC’s High-End Computing and Communications department. “In particular, Cal-(IT)2 brings with it a unique and visionary research agenda in wireless communications that will be a corner-stone of the next-generation Internet.” According to Vildibill, the first NGI application grants funded by CommerceNet and DSTI were announced in October 2001, covering a wide range of applications, including global trading, multi-modal Internet access for the disabled, wireless Web Services, and prospecting for natural resources. A second round of awards will be announced this spring. The southern California center will provide testbeds and access to advanced research networks otherwise unavailable to commercial companies. Innovative Internet-based applications developed by California businesses, non-profit corporations and public institutions will be enhanced, tested and showcased at CalNGI. CalNGI is one of two “development and testing hubs” set up by CommerceNet with funding from the State of California; the other is Net21, based at UC Berkeley.