The possibilities which interactive networking brings can be exploited to develop a whole new approach to learning and training - e-Education - where students access a host of academic and research material and facilities on-line. Fast Internet access will also facilitate more effective interactive research - with geographically distant researchers sharing data and instruments to develop new knowledge - prefiguring the emergence of a new working method - e-Research. What is needed is both a network capable of supporting end-to-end multimedia communications with a guaranteed quality and the development of innovative content, practices and tools to demonstrate usage of virtual campuses and virtual institutes.
Universities and research laboratories have been in the forefront of exploiting the Internet, which has brought enormous benefits to the academic and research community. Communicating via e-mail and accessing information over the Internet are now key elements of academic and professional life.