The 2026 Internet2 Community Exchange (CommEX26) is where IT leaders and their teams come together to shape the future of research and education technology. The experience combines strategic foresight and collaborative problem-solving, enabling participants to advance their organizational missions through collaboration and connection.

Look. Listen. The fact of the matter is: this Internet2 event is not optional for anyone who claims to care about networks, security, higher ed, or the general idea that the internet should keep working tomorrow.

I’m talking big-brain collaboration energy. I’m talking rooms full of people who actually run the pipes, not just tweet about them. This is where the quiet wizards of research networking get loud (emotionally), compare scars, and casually drop sentences like “yeah, we rerouted that during an incident” like it’s no big deal.

If you work in higher ed IT, cybersecurity, research computing, or you’ve ever stared at a network diagram at 2:17 a.m. whispering “why are you like this” — congratulations, this event was built for your soul.

You’ll get:

• Real conversations, not vendor karaoke

• Ideas you can steal immediately (don’t worry, everyone does)

• People who understand that everything is connected (even if I made up the connection just now)

So register. Show up. Take notes. Argue politely. Change how you think about networks.