Tracking the Internet into the 21st Century

The Internet has become a global phenomenon since its original introduction to a limited part of the academic world in January 1983. The research upon which it was based began in the 1960’s with the exploration of packet-switching concepts as alternative to conventional telephony circuit switching. In the intervening 40 or so years, the Internet has evolved in significant ways, but it has also left unresolved a number of issues that need attention. In this talk, we will briefly explore a few highlights of the Internet’s evolution and then look at some of the new anticipated applications that are foreseeable. We will look at current statistics and some projections for the growth of the Internet and where its users will be. Vinton G. Cerf is Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google. In this role, he is responsible for identifying new enabling technologies to support the development of advanced, Internet-based products and services from Google. He is also an active public face for Google in the Internet world.