In March 1995 the Government of the Republic of Croatia passed the Decree on founding of the CARNET institution with the purpose of facilitating progress of individuals, as well as of the society as a whole, through the use of new information technologies.

CARNET's activities can be divided in three basic areas: Internet service provision, encouragement of information society development and education for the new era.

That was the beginning of the work of the Croatian Academic and Research Network - CARNET, the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Croatia.

In 1996, the backbone of CARNET network was upgraded by introducing the ATM technology which enables real-time transfer of image and sound at the basic speed of 155 Mbit/s.

In January 1997, the first distance lecture in Croatia was organized through the CARNET ATM core between the Rectorate of the Osijek University and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb.

GÉANT, the pan-European academic and research network, was put into service on 1 December 2001, and CARNET, among others, connected to it.

The Committee coordinates short- and long-term planning, makes decisions on business organisation and is responsible for the relations with the government bodies, users, partners and the public.

Network infrastructure is owned by the CARNET institution, but cables are rented from a number of telecommunication providers.

In Croatia, the CARNET network connects the major Croatian towns and cities on the mainland and a number of settlements on the islands.

As part of its vision of inclusion of the Republic of Croatia in modern information society, CARNET participates in a series of international activities.

At their respective central institution individual users obtain electronic identities in the AAI@EduHr system.