Some of this is through exciting formal developments such as massive or distributed computing, tech start-ups to solve new problems, Big Data or the sharing of data, but no less important is the contribution of individual efforts to solve everyday problems or crowd-sourced efforts to find solutions - the ability of the Internet to connect individuals and to connect researchers. These connections and connectivity can exist on several levels. National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) have established high-capacity backbone networks in many countries, enabling academic collaboration and testing high-speed networking technologies.