Information Technology and Computing on Campus

Information Systems and Technology (IS&T) strives to maximize the impact of information technology across the Institute’s research and education enterprise in support of MIT’s mission.

IS&T manages the digital infrastructure, technology architecture, software development, cybersecurity, and overall IT ecosystem of core Institute platforms, including the computing and communications infrastructure and applications. Together, these systems provide the digital foundation for MIT’s research, academic, and administrative activities.

Connected campus. IS&T supports and maintains MITnet, the network that powers the Institute’s communication and collaboration capabilities.

• MIT’s network infrastructure in the Cambridge/Boston area is made up of more than 7,500 miles (12,070 km) of fiber, over 10,000 wireless access points, and 4,000 switches that provide on-campus connectivity.
• MIT maintains high-speed dedicated connections to several global research and education networks, collaborators, and enterprise cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure, ensuring our ability to meet the needs of MIT’s research and academic programs.
• The MIT Kendall WiFi network covers approximately 1,000,000 ft² (92,903 m²) of outdoor space, providing high-speed internet service at no cost to residents and visitors to the Kendall Square area and surrounding neighborhoods as a community service.

Research computing. The Office of Research Computing and Data, the Office of the Vice President for Research, and IS&T collaborate closely to provide efficient and sustainable research computing resources. They support a broad range of research collaborations and the digital infrastructure supporting MIT’s core research computing facilities, including Bates Research and Engineering Center and the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center.

MIT’s 100-gigabit backbone supports high-speed connectivity across its research enterprise, providing seamless access to the computational resource facilities located throughout campus and beyond, such as Internet2 and the Energy Sciences Network, which in turn provides access to the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

Applications and support. IS&T develops and supports an extensive catalog of software and services, including the following:

• Widely used productivity tools (e.g., Office 365, Adobe, Zoom, Slack, CrowdStrike, and Dropbox) as well as technical software (e.g., MATLAB, SolidWorks) to support education and research activities.
• Access to multiple enterprise cloud platforms and provides managed servers in a hybrid cloud environment for developers.
• 24/7 IT help by phone or email to the MIT community, as well as direct support to more than 50 departments, labs, and centers. Support teams field nearly 100,000 questions annually.
• Nearly 11,000 self-help articles in the Knowledge Base, drawing on the IT expertise at MIT.