FIRE initiative aims to address current and future expectations that will be put on the future internet. It provides an environment where it is possible to investigate and experimentally validate innovative and even revolutionary new ideas based on future and emerging Internet technologies. The FIRE experimental facility is aiming to become a major support instrument for medium- and long-term research on networks and services by industry and academia.
MyFIRE project aims to develop efficient mechanisms of test beds process to make it more effective and widely used, especially by standardized approaches; identify the user communities and their needs for improving research value of the huge investments in FIRE testbeds; identify the contribution of testbed in the innovation pathway for the research community; and develop a unique and new approach addressing the optimisation, the design, the set up and the use of the experimental test facilities by increasing awareness on socio-economic aspects.
To achieve these goals a mass consultation with the enlarged FIRE community has been built, to harvest details on Experimental Research Facility in the field of Future Internet. The web survey questionnaire has been distributed to a large number of people involved in ICT research, especially those who use or possess an experimental research facility.
A total of 439 responses were received in answer to this survey, after several reminder messages. Of these 282 were complete response sets, and 19 were incomplete but exploitable responses, so the statistical analysis is based on 301 responses.
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Profile of respondents
44% are Universities or Higher Education Institutions (136 responses). But we can highlight a good representation of Private commercial organisations (24%) and Public organisations (18%).
In term of location, 44% come from the European Union (136 responses) and 25% from Russia (76 responses).
88% of respondents (266) participated in Future Internet research program, most of which are involved in European programs related to Future Internet research (130 respondents i.e 49%). This rate raises to 67.5% if we consider only the European respondents.
If the main part of participation in European Programs comes from European countries (88 among the 130, i.e. 68%), we notice that 42 respondents from out of the European Union participate in European Programs, especially from Eastern Countries and Turkey.
Amongst the participants in EU programmes related to Future Internet, more than 40% are involved in International cooperation in ICT. Future Internet Assembly (FIA) and Future Internet Research and Experimentation (FIRE) are well identified, with respectively 25% and 30% of respondents.
Finally, just over half of respondents (54,5%) either possess, make use of or finance Future Internet Experimental research facilities. Nearlya third of respondents make use of Future Internet EF (33%) and another third possess Future Internet EF (31%). Among users and providers, half possess and make use of Future Internet EF (15,6% of total of respondents).
If we look at the profile of users and providers of Future Internet EF, Universities and Higher Education Institutions are most represented: they represent 45% of the total population of respondents, and 53% of users and providers. In term of geographical coverage, 42% come from the European Union (61 responses). Concerning BRICs countries, we collected: 43 responses from Russia, 6 responses from China, 5 responses from Brazil, and 1 from India.