COVID-19

This page is intended to provide information around the coronavirus and any impact on the activities of the GÉANT Association. We will update the page as needed.

31 January 2022 Update

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we have continued to follow the advice of the Netherlands Government and the UK Government with regard to changing requirements of working from home and returning to the office. We will continue to do so as the pandemic develops.

Day to day work, meetings, workshops and training events have successfully continued online, and thanks to the commitment of our home-working staff we are confident that we are continuing to fully support our members.

We have also ensured the support of our staff, providing home-working equipment, internet allowance and other support as required – as well as regular opportunities to safely catch up with members of our Executive team.

29 March 2021 Update

Through the remainder of 2020 and early 2021 we have continued to follow the advice of the Netherlands Government and the UK Government, and kept our offices in Amsterdam and Cambridge closed to the vast majority of staff.

Day to day work, meetings, workshops and training events have successfully continued online, and thanks to the commitment of our home-working staff we are confident that we are continuing to fully support our members.

We have also ensured the support of our staff, providing home-working equipment, internet allowance and other support as required – as well as regular opportunities to safely catch up with members of our Executive team.

09 June 2020 Update

We have prepared our offices in Amsterdam and Cambridge for re-opening in accordance with national government guidelines in the Netherlands and the UK. Most staff will continue to work from home for the foreseeable future, but a small number of our staff will be authorised to return to the Cambridge Office from 15 June 2020.

22 April 2020 Update

Following the latest update from the Netherlands Government, the Amsterdam office will remain closed until at least 20 May. All staff are working from home and can be contacted through the normal channels.

The Cambridge Office will remain closed until 11 May at the earliest, in accordance with UK government instructions. Again, all staff, including the Network Operations Centre staff, are working from home and can be contacted through the normal channels.

24 March 2020 Update

Following the UK Prime Minister’s announcement, we will be closing the Cambridge Office on 24 March 2020.

This means that both our Amsterdam and Cambridge locations are now closed and all GÉANT staff are working from home. We are confident that we can do so with minimal disruption. You can contact us as always via the established email addresses and telephone numbers.

GÉANT Operations

Please see here for updates.

16 March 2020 Update

We will be closing our Amsterdam Office space starting on 18 March 2020 and lasting until at least 6 April 2020.

While our office space is closed, we will be working from home and are convinced we can do so with minimal disruption. You can contact us as always via the established email addresses and phone numbers.

At this moment, our Cambridge Office remains open.

GÉANT Operations

Please see here for updates.

12 March 2020 Update

The GÉANT Association continues to closely monitor advice and recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and from Dutch and UK governments regarding the coronavirus.

GÉANT’s Health and Safety Committee utilises this information in decision-making regarding international travel and other considerations.

We will continue to support our partners in the most effective way possible whilst ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our staff and the wider GÉANT Community.

Health and Safety of our Staff and Contractors

The Health and Safety of our staff and contractors, their families and communities are our first concern. GÉANT’s Health and Safety Committee has worked together for many years and we now see the benefits of this well-established trusted relationship between the Health and Safety Officer, representatives of GÉANT’s Executive Team, the Dutch PVT and members of staff from our locations in Cambridge and Amsterdam. Together with the Health and Safety Committee, GÉANT’s Executive team and CEO monitor the situation and communicate in a transparent way with staff and contractors.

Travel

Last week, we took the decision to suspend all future travel bookings, unless very urgent business requires travel. Such urgent requirements are judged on a case by case basis with a final decision from our CEO.

Office

At this point in time and following official guidelines, our office spaces in Cambridge and Amsterdam remain open. We have advised our staff and contractors to reduce the amount of face to face meetings with visitors where possible.

Following the Dutch prime minister’s press conference on 12 March 2020, we are encouraging our Dutch staff and contractors to work from home as much as possible.

Over the past year and due to a more agile office environment in our locations in Cambridge and Amsterdam, the majority of GÉANT’s staff and contractors have experienced working remotely or from home. We are at this moment ensuring that we can scale the ability of working from home to 100% of all staff and contractors over the next few days. It is our objective to be fully prepared should the situation arise in which we are asked to work from home by the respective national authorities.

GÉANT Operations

GÉANT operations are closely monitoring the situation in all countries where GÉANT network POP locations exist. We are following WHO advice regarding international travel relating to these locations. Network Operations Centre activity in the UK is unaffected and all non-essential travel by NOC staff has been suspended.

The situation is not currently affecting existing network services to the NREN and R&E community. Fault rectification and associated first line maintenance activities are outsourced and performed by in-country resources and therefore are not reliant on GÉANT engineering staff to travel. At this moment, our suppliers are confident about first line maintenance support and we are currently assessing with our suppliers the impact on ordering of new equipment.

Until more clarity exists, planned physical Network Architecture changes and upgrades have been largely suspended. Only service-critical changes will be performed using GÉANT operations staff who will observe all advice regarding minimising risk of exposure.

Should in-country travel by 3rd party engineering resource be restricted by the respective national government authorities or otherwise, then GÉANT operations will inform the local NREN and discuss any mitigation measures.

GÉANT operations continue to monitor the situation and are regularly in communication with key suppliers of equipment, logistics and engineering services and will inform users of any significant changes to the current approach.

TNC20

GÉANT and Jisc remain committed to TNC20 with unchanged enthusiasm and dedication. To provide additional time before registering, the Early Bird registration has been extended to 31 March 2020.

5 March 2020 Update

The GÉANT Association continues to closely monitor advice and recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and from Dutch and UK governments regarding the coronavirus.

GÉANT’s Health and Safety Committee utilises this information in decision-making regarding international travel and other considerations.

We will continue to support our partners in the most effective way possible whilst ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our staff and the wider GÉANT Community.

TNC20

GÉANT and Jisc remain committed to TNC20 with unchanged enthusiasm and dedication. To provide additional time before registering, the Early Bird registration has been extended to 31 March 2020.

GÉANT Operations

GÉANT operations are closely monitoring the situation in all countries where GÉANT network POP locations exist. We are following WHO advice regarding international travel relating to these locations. Network Operations Centre activity in the UK is unaffected and all non-essential travel by NOC staff has been suspended.

The situation is not currently affecting existing network services to the NREN and R&E community. Fault rectification and associated first line maintenance activities are outsourced and performed by in-country resources and therefore are not reliant on GÉANT engineering staff to travel.

Until more clarity exists, planned physical Network Architecture changes and upgrades have been largely suspended. Only service-critical changes will be performed using GÉANT operations staff who will observe all advice regarding minimising risk of exposure.

Should in-country travel by 3rd party engineering resource be restricted by the respective national government authorities or otherwise, then GÉANT operations will inform the local NREN and discuss any mitigation measures.

GÉANT operations continue to monitor the situation and are regularly in communication with key suppliers of equipment, logistics and engineering services and will inform users of any significant changes to the current approach.

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