Two long-time champions of the World Wide Web still see plenty of opportunities for the Internet and its users to grow and adapt.
In honor of its 35th anniversary, the National Science Foundation Network recently hosted a celebratory Livestream event featuring remarks and discussion from several people who played key roles in the Internet’s past and present.
Among the participants was Vint Cerf, who was part of the Internet Hall of Fame’s inaugural class for his role as the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols. Since 2005, he has been a vice president and “Chief Internet Evangelist” for Google, promoting the web’s capabilities.
Cerf used the opportunity to encourage future generations to put those capabilities to the test by trying new things.
“If you’re young, take the risky road,” he said. “You’re young enough to recover from it. You don’t have to go out to change the world. Just go out and do something. You’ll be surprised what happens if it works.”
Cerf also helped kick off the event with a conversation with former Vice President Al Gore.
Prior to taking office as Vice President in 1993, Gore represented Tennessee in each chamber of the U.S. Congress. During his legislative tenure, he was a key proponent of sponsoring legislation that funded the expansion of and greater public access to the Internet. Instrumental in helping to create the “Information Superhighway,” Gore was one of the first government officials to recognize that the Internet’s impact could reach beyond academia to fuel educational and economic growth as well.
During the conversation with Cerf, Gore noted that the ongoing pandemic has helped spur further innovation as people attempt to stay connected while staying home and minimizing further spread of Covid-19.
“The pandemic for all of the dark tragedies and policy failures, it has simultaneously accelerated many changes that were already underway,” he said. “Even though you (Cerf) and I have been using this technology for so long, I don’t think I fully appreciated how use would expand when we had these lockdowns. It’s incredible.”
Watch the livestream here: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/nsfnet35