In 1991 Davies introduced Internet technology into the pan-European backbone, EuropaNet, which was originally planned as an X.25 network. He was director of the COSINE Project, a pan-European effort to encourage the adoption of Open Systems Interconnections (OSI) by developing a set of pilot OSI implementations as well as gateways to proprietary systems. COSINE was responsible for the creation of DANTE, the UK-based organization that remains responsible to this day for the pan-European research Internet.

From 1993-2011, Davies was general manager of DANTE, where he oversaw the creation of six  generations of pan-European research networks, moving from the deployment of 2 Mbps transmission technology to 100 Gbps transmission technology. He successfully lobbied for the liberalization of the European telecommunications marketplace, which has enabled researchers to gain access to unprecedented network capacities and has supported a vibrant development environment for Internet technologies.The Internet Hall of Fame inducted Davies for his contribution to the development of Europe’s high-capacity internet for research and education.