High speed data links of 100Gbps and more routinely carry research and education data among colleges and universities across the globe. The organizations that build and operate these interconnected networks are primarily academic consortia and governments. Asia and Australia have been well-connected to North America but most of the Pacific Islands have presented significant challenges. Thus the Pacific has been the last region on earth to join the global fabric of research and education networks (R&E Networks or RENs). This presentation will provide an update on R&E Networking in the region with an emphasis on the status in the Pacific. It will highlight new initiatives such as the Guam Open R&E Exchange (GOREX), the 3D HoloCampus project connecting Hawai?i and American Samoa for education, and the emerging PolyREN initiative in French Polynesia. It will also describe prospects for the future based on new submarine fiber systems to previously unconnected island nations and economies.