Professor Joseph JaJa (UMIACS/ECE) was part of one of the four winning teams of the first Annual Internet 2 IDEA
(Internet2 Driving Exemplary Applications) Awards. The winners were chosen from numerous distinguished nominations.
This award program recognizes leading innovators who have created and deployed advanced network applications which 
have applied advanced networking to enable transformational progress in research, teaching and learning, and which hold
the promise to increase the impact of next-generation networks around the world.

Dr. JaJa's project, The Transcontinental Persistent Archives Prototype is a collaborative effort with the University
of Maryland, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the San Diego supercomputer Center (SDSC). 
The application is an innovative research test bed used to address the Nations challenge of safeguarding, preserving, and 
providing access to demonstrably authentic electronic records that document the rights of American citizens, actions of 
federal officials and the national experience. The prototype is a federation of different and independently administered, 
computing platforms which interact as a single virtual repository. It is a product of a seven year research effort that 
includes the contributions of the National Science Foundations Office of CyberInfrastructure, the San Diego Supercomputing
Center, and the University of Maryland.