RESEARCH
Over its history, the Internet has grown incredibly, reaching billions of people around the world. At its core, the Internet relies on a set of interconnected protocols specified, for the majority, in open standards. At NLnet Labs we both contribute to these standards, and implement them in our open source projects. Yet what happens if the community decides to change one of these standards? Or what if a new standard is introduced? This is where NLnet Labs' research activities come into play.
Research Vision
NLnet Labs sees the Internet as a constantly changing interplay of open standards, network operators and users. To keep the Internet viable, stable and secure, it is vital to understand how the Internet works and what effects changes in protocols and operational practices have. For this reason, NLnet Labs considers research into core Internet protocols to be an integral part of its mission.
The output of our research should serve the following goals:
- To aid the Internet community in improving open standard protocols and operational practices.
- To inform public policy for the Internet, both for the multi-stakeholder Internet governance bodies and at the level of governments.
- To support data-driven improvements of NLnet Labs open source products.
In order to achieve these goals, our research focuses on:
- Performing targeted research into the (expected) impact of changes to the standards for, or implementation of core Internet protocols.
- Participating in longitudinal studies that track the state of the Internet.
- Performing contract research for studies that fall within the scope of NLnet Labs' mission.
As open is a core part of our mission, we strive to make the results of our research (or the research we participate in) available in open access and to publicly share datasets whenever possible.
Contact Us
If you would like to discuss research collaborations with us, or if you would like to enquire about the possibilities of NLnet Labs performing contract research for your organisation, please contact our research team via research@nlnetlabs.nl.