25 Years of Internet Globalization

Time 10/01/12 03:00PM-04:00PM

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Session Abstract

The Internet began in the early 1980s as an almost exclusively US initiative, with just a couple of foreign nodes in Europe. However, the launch of the NSFNET and the companion publication by Internet proponents of a handful of scientific articles in the mid-1980s provoked intense international interest in the new networking technology.
A defining year was 1987, when the 6th IANW (International Academic Networking Workshop) was held at Princeton University with the presence of dozens of network representatives from around the world, and was followed shortly afterwards by a meeting in Washington of key network people from the US and Europe to discuss the coordination of growing international networking activities.
Initially based on NSFNET, which provided access to U.S. educational, experimental, and reference resources, the global Internet grew rapidly through promoting effective international collaboration and transnational research communities.
This session provides the opportunity for some of the people active in networking 25 years ago to recall the beginnings of the global Internet, and draw parallels with the current globalization of new networking activities.