IEEE i50: A Virtual Celebration of 50 Years of the Internet

IEEE, in collaboration with People Centered Internet, invites Internet enthusiasts and 460,000+ IEEE members from over 190 countries to join an engaging livestream as we look back at the Internet’s humble beginnings, and the important contributions of IEEE.
In May 1974, the IEEE Transactions on Communications scientific journal published the seminal paper “A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication,” authored by Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn.
50 years later, join Vint Cerf and other luminaries in celebrating this milestone, and exploring what is next in the evolution of the Internet.
Co-sponsored by: People Sponsored Internet (PCI)
Agenda:
Event Program and Schedule
12:00-12:10 PM: Opening Remarks IEEE and People Centered
(https://peoplecentered.net/people/mei-lin-fung/), Chair | IEEE i50 Virtual Event; Chair | SSIT Sustainability Technical Committee; Co-chair & Co-founder | People Centered Internet
(https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomcoughlin/2023/11/29/i-will-be-leading-the-ieee-in-2024/?sh=1048a9654c02), President, IEEE
The 50th anniversary provides a time for reflecting on the role of technologists in contributing to a People-Centered Digital Future. We begin our celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Internet by highlighting the critical role of the IEEE in advancing technology for humanity over the next 50 years. IEEE uniquely spans business, government, academia, and all spheres of society–all of which are being transformed by digital connectivity.
12:10 – 12:35 PM: TCP and the Internet – Origins and Subsequent Impact
(https://peoplecentered.net/people/vint-cerf/), Vice President, Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
(http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/bios/kahn.html), Chair and CEO, Corporation for National Research Initiatives
(http://www.jlabsllc.com/home-1), CEO, JLabs
What led to TCP’s invention? What role did each panelist play in the Internet and TCP/IP story? What motivated TCP’s invention? What challenges do we face now and in the future as this technology evolves and becomes more ubiquitous? Are there any stories from that time that you wish to share about your own experience or journey?
12:35 – 12:45 PM: Internet and Beyond – Internet Society & Internet Engineering Task Force
(https://www.internetsociety.org/author/wentworth/), Managing Director, The Internet Society
12:50 – 1:20 PM: The People-Centered Digital Future Countries are Building
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkirkpatrick/), Senior Fellow, People Centered Internet
(https://www.devex.com/people/anir-chowdhury-1495836), Policy Advisor, a2i, ICT Division/Cabinet Division/UNDP Bangladesh
(https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/leadership/sanjay-jain), Director, Digital Public Infrastructure, Gates Foundation
(https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/pramod-varma-interview-former-chief-architect-aadhaar-upi-8972663/), Architect of India Digital Public Infrastructure, Aadhar, UPI, ONDC
In this session, we meet today’s Internet’s visionary architects. Following the breakthroughs in countries including Estonia and India, many others are now actually building digital public infrastructure that will facilitate national digital transformation. What opportunities and challenges do global policy, technical, and investment leaders see next? Where do they need the private sector to engage?
1:20 – 1:45 PM: Digital Transformation and Ancestral Intelligence in the Era of AI
The Honorable (https://www.primeminister.gr/en/the-prime-minister/kyriakos-mitsotakis), Prime Minister, Greece
(https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/AI/Pages/karachalios.aspx), former Managing Director, IEEE Standards Association
Benefits of digitization of public/governmental infrastructure and of services to citizens; experiences from the ongoing transformative processes in Greece.
The profound impact of the Internet and of emerging technologies and systems incorporating AI, which permeate almost every aspect of our individual and social spheres.
– How to ground this evolution, which takes place at a breathtaking pace, on the accumulated human experience and collective wisdoms;
– How to shape the ongoing profound transformations of our societies such that their inner cohesion (the very existence of a "dēmos") is not systematically undermined, and the mental health of this and future generations is not irreparably damaged.
1:55 – 2:25 PM: Panel Session – How Can We Ensure AI Serves Everyone, Everywhere?
(https://peoplecentered.net/leadership/), Senior Fellow, People Centered Internet
(https://oecd.ai/en/community/keith-strier), VP, Worldwide AI, NVIDIA; US National AI Advisory Council
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiamuirhead/)| IEEE Executive Director & COO
Artificial intelligence holds the potential to save and enhance lives unlike almost any preceding technology. How are governments, the private sector and academia working together to successfully shape a future increasingly dominated by AI? How can we deepen this cooperation to fulfill the Internet’s early vision and correct our mistakes, including all perspectives?
2:25 – 2:45 PM: Working Together Towards a Positive Digital Future
The Internet spread around the world, driven by a sense of common cause and belief that it could be a platform for information sharing that would connect people and cultures. Over the past 50 years, it has realized this ambition but also unleashed new threats we did not imagine. As we look towards a new era increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence, how can we realize a positive digital future that is shaped by the collaborative efforts of governments, the technology community and civil society? How can the U.S. government lead these efforts?
2:45 – 3:00 PM: Closing Reflections
(https://peoplecentered.net/people/mei-lin-fung/), Chair | IEEE i50 Virtual Event; Chair | SSIT Sustainability Technical Committee; Co-chair & Co-founder | People Centered Internet
(https://www.computer.org/profiles/robert-metcalfe), Co-designer of Ethernet at Xerox PARC; the "Father" of Ethernet
Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/419313