National research and education networks (NRENs) are specialised internet service providers dedicated to supporting the needs of the research and education communities within their own country.
The primary focus of NRENs is to provide universities and research institutes with high-quality network connectivity and related services by connecting campuses and institutions to each other, and to the rest of the internet. NRENs in the GÉANT region provide services to more than 80% of all university-level students, as well as to researchers, educators and other campus staff and visitors. Many NRENs go beyond this by also connecting schools, institutes of further education, libraries, museums, hospitals and other public service institutions.
Most NRENs also specialise in providing expertise and support in a range of other technologies and service areas, such as trust and identity, security, storage, and collaboration. These may be bespoke to an NREN or part of a pan-European service offered by many NRENs in the GÉANT collaboration but delivered in a federated manner.