Pioneers of the internet and web science celebrate 50th Anniversary of the Internet
University of Southampton’s Dame Wendy Hall and Sir David Payne, joined an impressive gathering of internet luminaries at an event at the Royal Society this week to mark 50 years of the internet.
The event was co-organised by the Web Science Institute (WSI) and featured eminent speakers including Dr Vint Cerf, co-inventor of the internet who is receiving an honorary degree from the University of Southampton during the graduation season this year, Mei Lin Fung, Chair and Co-founder of People-Centered Internet, and Alan Kay the father of the personal computer.
The public event saw over 300 people join in person and via live stream to hear from Vint in his role as Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google, as well as participate in panel discussions led by the experts and covering topics including The Internet and Society and The Internet as a Facilitator of Opportunity.
Dame Wendy, who chaired a panel, said, “To bring together such an esteemed group of colleagues, all of whom have been so instrumental in the creation of the internet, the Web and Web Science was very special indeed. So much progress has been made since the invention of the internet protocols TCP/IP by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn 50 years ago. It was fascinating to discuss that progress, current challenges and prospects for the future as we move into the next era of internet development which will include the interplanetary internet.”
The event was co-organised by the Royal Society and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and supported by the Web Science Trust, the People-Centered Internet, the Digital Enlightenment Forum, the Digital Humanism Initiative.
