Belnet Community Day 2026
Thursday, 15 October 2026 -
09:00
Monday, 12 October 2026
Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Wednesday, 14 October 2026
Thursday, 15 October 2026
09:00
Welcome coffee & breakfast
Welcome coffee & breakfast
09:00 - 09:30
09:30
Opening plenary: Welcome & introduction
Welcome & introduction
09:30 - 09:50
Room: Inspire
09:50
Opening plenary: Keynote: Digital Autonomy: what we can learn from Kazakhstan and Kenya.
Keynote: Digital Autonomy: what we can learn from Kazakhstan and Kenya.
09:50 - 10:30
Room: Room : Inspire
10:30
Coffee Break
Coffee Break
10:30 - 10:45
10:45
Parallel session 1A : Above-the-net services
-
Philippe Van Hecke
Parallel session 1A : Above-the-net services
Philippe Van Hecke
10:45 - 12:00
Room: Room : Inspire
What’s evolving across Belnet’s services—and what does it mean for your organisation? Get the latest on identity federation and its future challenges, find your way through the world of Digital Certificates, and discover practical lessons learned from OCRE mini-competitions. 1. Philip Brusten (KULeuven) : The future of Federated identity in R&E 2. Bruno Goossens (Belnet) : Certificate Automation: Preparing for shorter certificate lifetimes 3. Jean-Pierre Aerts (Belnet), David de Reu (Smals) & Rik Van Caenegem (KULeuven) : OCRE mini competition - Feedback from the field
Parallel session 1B : Innovation
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Niels Deriemaecker
Parallel session 1B : Innovation
Niels Deriemaecker
10:45 - 12:00
Room: Room : Into the box
What’s next for innovation at Belnet and across our community? Explore the latest initiatives shaping Belgium’s digital research landscape, from the Belgian AI Factory Antenna (BE-AIFA) and the Canathist project to VUB’s Supercomputing Nexus in the broader HPC ecosystem. - Ward Poelmans (VUB) : VSC to HPC - Sabine Demey (IMEC) : - Patrick Semal (MRAC) & Erik De Neve (Belnet) : The Canathist project
12:00
Lunch
Lunch
12:00 - 13:15
13:15
Parallel session 2A : Network
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Stefan Gulinck
Parallel session 2A : Network
Stefan Gulinck
13:15 - 14:30
Room: Room : Inspire
What’s happening behind the scenes of Belnet’s network—and what’s next? Get up to speed on the latest network developments, discover how Belnet is testing Otto, an AI agent that analyses network incidents to deliver faster, clearer and better-documented answers, while keeping humans in control and take a look behind the scenes at how we monitor our network and why we’re bringing our NOC operations in-house. 1. Stefan Gulinck : Update Belnet Network 2. Jonathan Van Overmeir : Your ticket, already investigated - How we're exploring AIOps with NetFabric and Otto 3. Joachim Vertommen & Erik de Neve : Belnet’s journey with Zabbix
Parallel session 2B : Solutions & Evolutions
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Jean-Pierre Aerts
Parallel session 2B : Solutions & Evolutions
Jean-Pierre Aerts
13:15 - 14:30
Room: Room : Into the box
What’s new in Belnet and what’s coming next? Explore the solutions and emerging challenges shaping our future, from a customer experience with campus solutions and the upcoming Belnet Time & Frequency Service to the rising cyber risks created by AI-accelerated vulnerability discovery. 1. Geoffrey Szablot (HERS) : Rebuilding a multi-campus network : From fragmented infrastructure to one resilient operating model 2. Lisa Van Loo (Belnet) : Belgian Time & Frequency service 3. Rob Loos (Belnet) : Rising cyber risk from AI-accelerated vulnerability discovery 4. Filip Vanierschot (Service Now-Armis) : Drowning in Fragmented Security Data?
14:30
Lightning talks
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Davina Luyten
Lightning talks
Davina Luyten
14:30 - 15:15
Room: Room : Inspire
This session features a series of five-minute talks, offering quick insights into innovative projects, fresh ideas and exciting developments from across our community. 1. Servaas Tilken (PXL Hogeschool) : EXPATS : Explainable Autofill for Trustworthy Surveys 2. Elke Dierckens (Belnet) : Belnet Customer Portal : a sneak peak 3. Louis Vanhove (student @ VUB) : iTutorOnline.com, stay curious – 4. Anna Miglio (Royal Observatory of Belgium) : Aligning Policy, Infrastructure, and Skills for Federal Open Science 5. Louise Le Grelle (Belnet) : TNC27
15:15
Coffee break
Coffee break
15:15 - 15:30
15:30
Closing plenary: Closing keynote - Dries De Poorter
Closing keynote - Dries De Poorter
15:30 - 16:00
Room: Room : Inspire
16:00
Closing plenary: Wrap up & goodbye
Wrap up & goodbye
16:00 - 16:10
Room: Room : Inspire
16:10
Networking drink
Networking drink
16:10 - 18:00