Jisc has a long history of supporting organisations connected to the Janet Network (Connected Organisations) in their strategic management of relationships with commercial, public sector, cultural, social and civic organisations, in order to deliver services which benefit the economy and society. Previously known as business and community engagement, but now more commonly referred to as civic engagement, Jisc permits a Connected Organisation to share some of their Janet network connection bandwidth with an eligible Partner Organisation. This permission is subject to the terms described within the Janet Network Connection Policy.

The eligibility of a Partner Organisation to be connected in this way must be reviewed on an annual basis or when there is a change in the relationship between the Connected Organisation and the Partner Organisation to ensure the ongoing appropriateness of the agreement. If, upon review, the Partner Organisation is no longer eligible as set out in sections 12-13 of the Janet Network Connection Policy, then connection to the Partner Organisation must be terminated.

To help ensure Jisc’s status as a private network and to maintain fairness to all subscribers, Jisc reserves the right to request details of Partner Organisations and for the Connected Organisation to disclose the proportion of its overall Janet usage that is accounted for by the activities of its Partner Organisation(s).

A Jisc subscription entitles the Connected Organisation to as much Janet bandwidth as it reasonably needs to fulfil its mission, irrespective of subscription paid. Jisc is responsible for deciding this level of bandwidth, which we do by assessing both current consumption and likely future need. We need to maintain fairness to all subscribers accessing the finite bandwidth resources of Janet, and if it is concluded that use of a Connected Organisation’s bandwidth by its Partner Organisation(s) is disproportionately high compared to other subscribers’ behaviours, we may either decline to upgrade the Connected Organisation’s bandwidth, or we may levy a charge for the proportion of the bandwidth that is being used to support Partner Organisations. For this reason, a Connected Organisation should consider providing Janet access only to those Partner Organisations who have relatively modest bandwidth demands, as well as fitting the other criteria above. If a potential partner requires high-capacity access to the Janet IP Connection Service, it would be best served by an individual connection provided directly by Jisc.

All organisations connected to Janet either directly as a Connected Organisation or as a Partner Organisation are bound by the Janet network policies.