Future Internet Research and Experimentation – FIRE

There is an increasing demand from both academic and industrial communities to bridge the gap between visionary research and large-scale experimentation, through experimentally-driven advanced research consisting of ‘iterative’ cycles of research, design and experimentation of new networking and service architectures and paradigms addressing all levels, including horizontal research on issues such as system complexity and security.

This approach needs the set-up of large-scale experimental facilities, going beyond individual project testbeds, which are also needed as validation tools, i.e. for interoperability issues. They would help in anticipating possible migration paths for technological developments, which may be potentially disruptive; in discovering new and emerging behaviours and use patterns; as well as in assessing the socioeconomic implications of new technological solutions at an early stage.

FIRE addresses the emerging expectations which are being put upon the Internet, by providing a research environment for investigating and experimentally validating highly innovative and revolutionary ideas.