April 29, 2013
Though designed 40 years ago and in operation for 30 years, the Internet continues to evolve. There are many unsolved problems and unexplored opportunities. The Internet of Things, mobility, use of radio broadcast, sharing of spectrum and many other fertile areas for research. In addition, the security and safety of the system needs substantial attention. To improve the safety posture will require new hardware and software paradigms, changes in user behavior, negotiation of inter-governmental treaties among many other steps. Finally, the Internet is going off the planet in an interplanetary system that is already in operation.
Vinton G. Cerf is VP and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google. Cerf served at MCI, the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, at DARPA and as a member of the Stanford University Faculty.
Cerf co-invented the architecture and basic protocols of the Internet. He has received the U.S. National Medal of Technology, ACM Turing award, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Japan Prize.
Vint Cerf served as chairman of the board of ICANN and as founding president of the Internet Society. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, ACM, and American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Engineering Consortium, the Computer History Museum, the National Academy of Engineering and a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Cerf holds a BS degree from Stanford University and MS and Ph.D. degrees from UCLA. He has received twenty honorary degrees.