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IRISnet supports the digital world and intelligent digital solutions

Launched on 30 May 2012 and governed by a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Region, Paradigm and Orange, the IRISnet network uses fibre optic, fixed-line and mobile technologies to serve all public institutions in the Brussels Region.

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With this network, the municipalities, Public Centres for Social Welfare (PCSW), police zones, crisis centres, public hospitals and other public interest organisations are now interconnected, strengthening their links with citizens.

The network provides a fully secure means of transporting critical data, with the ability to integrate the latest technological advances to secure buildings, objects and communications. It also enables intelligent territorial management, for example in terms of traffic light regulation, optimisation of waste collection routes or the installation of flood prevention sensors.

In 2022, Paradigm's teams set about drawing up a precise set of specifications to renew and improve the contract with Opens in new windowIRISnet, with the aim of making Brussels-Capital a connected, innovative and inclusive territory.

This new contract will facilitate exchanges for both the various technical infrastructures and the network. In terms of innovation, IRISnet will play a crucial role by providing technological support for the regional network security policy. It will be specially designed to meet the needs of critical services requiring maximum reliability, such as hospitals, police zones and energy companies. This will be achieved by implementing advanced network security measures, including securing connection points, detecting flow anomalies and resisting intrusion techniques such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, phishing, Trojans and malware.

And what does IRISnet mean for citizensn

The IRISnet network's ICT infrastructure ensures that secondary school students have a high-speed connection, citizens can access free Wi-Fi and you can report an incident of littering on the public highway from your telephone.

There are many practical applications for citizens: Branche ton école, Fibru, External linkFixMyStreetExternal linkwifi.brussels are just some of the services available to everyone.

Over the coming months, we'll be presenting these applications in detail in this newsletter. Get ready for some exciting content! In the meantime, feel free to go online and discover them for yourself.

In 2022, IRISnet was:

  • a closed, secure network of over 400 km of fibre owned by the Brussels-Capital Region
  • approximately 1,500 connected sites
  • 1,730 networked devices
  • 180 schools connected to a high-speed network ("Branche ton école" (Connect your School) project)
  • 1,457 public cameras integrated into the regional video surveillance network, used by police zones
  • 401 ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras for the Low Emission Zone (LEZ), theRestricted Access Zone (RAZ) and Speed Control (average speed cameras), used by police zones and Brussels Fiscality

Opens in new windowDigital Spring Brussels 2024 will take place on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 March 2024.For this new edition, organized by Paradigm, Digital Spring Brussels will move into Tour & Taxis and once again showcase the best of the Brussels Region's IT ecosystem. To register for this event, Opens in new windowclick here.

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Would you like to share a news item or an article in your "Echo of the Digital Spring"? Contact us at communication@paradigm.brussels.