Merit Network

Thank you for coming to Merit HQ to work with our leadership team, Princess Castleberry! We loved having your valuable insights as a keynote at #MMC26! 💜

Grateful that I was able to stream in the UP so family back home could watch our kiddo this weekend. Another reason #meritopsneverstops is because these opportunities for network connectivity mean people connectivity!

We're #hiring a new Community Engagement Manager, Emerging Technologies in Michigan. Apply today or share this post with your network.

#eduroam rocks! Great job David Dennis, Jr. and team! 💫🛜

What does a slow connection cost a community? Charlotte Bewersdorff, VP for Community Engagement at Merit Network, on what members were up against: "Prior to Merit's network, a lot of [our member] organizations were on slow connections, and that created barriers for them serving their mission to their constituents, their students, their faculty, their staff, and so that was really throttling the vitality of communities." Connecting those institutions raised a bigger question. Answering it became the work she's proudest of: "The work that I'm most proud of... is the Michigan Moonshot Initiative. What the Moonshot Initiative really focused on was, what more can we do with that infrastructure beyond anchor connectivity? How do we leverage this asset and extend that benefit to help residents all over the state that are being affected by the digital divide?" "I think what's changed in the 14 years since I've been with Merit is, we're much more nimble." The technology keeps getting more complex. Her question stays the same: how do we get access to it "to the benefit of everybody in Michigan"? Everybody in Michigan. Sixty years in, that's still the work. 💜 #Merit60 #MichiganMoonshot #CommunityConnectivity #Michigan

Way to go, Dr. Pierrette Renée Dagg! Today, Merit's Director of Research gave Western Michigan University students, faculty, and staff an overview of free HPC, AI, and research data resources. 🤖🐎

Cyber Tip of the Week: Passwords Alone Aren't Enough. 🔒 Even the strongest passwords can be compromised. That's why multi-factor authentication (MFA) remains one of the simplest—and most effective—ways to strengthen account security. By requiring a second form of verification, MFA adds an extra layer of protection that can help prevent unauthorized access, even if a password has been stolen. This week, consider: 🛡️Reviewing where MFA is enabled across your institution 🛡️Encouraging faculty and staff to activate MFA on supported accounts 🛡️Including MFA reminders in campus cybersecurity communications One extra step during login can make a significant difference in protecting your institution's data. #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth #MFA #CyberTip #HigherEdIT #CyberSecurity #MeritNetwork

We’re honored to be part of this work with Rocket Community Fund, DigitalC, Detroit Housing Commission, Wayne State University, and the City of Detroit. Up to 6,000 more Detroit residents are getting connected, and Merit Network is proud to help provide the backbone that gets them there. 💜 #DetroitProud #ChangingTheCourse

What a week at #AnchorNets2026. 💜 Thank you to the SHLB Coalition for bringing together schools, libraries, health care providers, and broadband leaders from across the country, and for including Merit Network’s Jameka Williams and Charlotte Bewersdorff on the program. We were also glad to see Eric Frederick of the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI) bring Michigan’s work to the national stage. A highlight was the release of SHLB’s new E-Rate economic impact study from The Brattle Group. It finds that eliminating E-Rate’s roughly $2.6 billion in annual support would reduce U.S. GDP by about $4.2 billion a year. For the Michigan schools and libraries our community serves, E-Rate is what keeps classrooms and reading rooms connected. We’re grateful to every partner helping make that case. #SaveOurERate #ERate #Broadband #Michigan

Coming to a rooftop near you! At Merit Network we’re going to see what happens to research and to learning by students at all levels when we enable collection of ground truth data from the world around us via LoRaWAN connected sensors. Interested in the possibilities? Let’s talk.