🚀 go-pugleaf

Robert Kahn & Vinton Cerf are widely credited for having created the
Internet, in 1973.  For a brief history of the internet, go to this
site: http://www.beyond.net.au/beginners/history.htm

This is what they wrote on this subject:

____________

Al Gore And The Internet

By Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf

Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of
the Internet and to promote and support its development.

No one person or even small group of persons exclusively "invented" the
Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among
people in government and the university community.
But as the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core
protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP
Gore's contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President.
No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater
contribution over a longer period of time.

Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his
role. He said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took
the initiative in creating the Internet." We don't think, as some
people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he "invented" the
Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving
as Senator, Gore's initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect
on the still-evolving Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was
talking about and promoting the Internet long before most people were
listening. We feel it is timely to offer our perspective.

As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high
speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the
improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected
official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a
broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and
scholarship.

Though easily forgotten, now, at the time this was an unproven and
controversial concept. Our work on the Internet started in 1973 and
was based on even earlier work that took place in the mid-late 1960s.
But the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When
the Internet was still in the early stages of its deployment,
Congressman Gore provided intellectual leadership by helping create the
vision of the potential benefits of high speed computing and
communication. As an example, he sponsored hearings on how advanced
technologies might be put to use in areas like coordinating the response
of government agencies to natural disasters and other crises.

As a Senator in the 1980s Gore urged government agencies to consolidate
what at the time were several dozen different and unconnected networks
into an "Interagency Network." Working in a bi-partisan manner with
officials in Ronald Reagan and George Bush's administrations, Gore
secured the passage of the High Performance Computing and Communications
Act in 1991. This "Gore Act" supported the National Research and
Education Network (NREN) initiative that became one of the major
vehicles for the spread of the Internet beyond the field of computer
science.

As Vice President Gore promoted building the Internet both up and out,
as well as releasing the Internet from the control of the government
agencies that spawned it.
He served as the major administration proponent for continued investment
in advanced computing and networking and private sector initiatives such
as Net Day.

He was and is a strong proponent of extending access to the network to
schools and libraries.  Today, approximately 95% of our nation's schools
are on the Internet. Gore provided much-needed political support for the
speedy privatization of the Internet when the time arrived for it to
become a commercially-driven operation.

There are many factors that have contributed to the Internet's rapid
growth since the later 1980s, not the least of which has been political
support for its privatization and continued support for research in
advanced networking technology. No one in public life has been more
intellectually engaged in helping to create the climate for a thriving
Internet than the Vice President. Gore has been a clear champion of
this effort, both in the councils of government and with the public at
large.

The Vice President deserves credit for his early recognition of the
value of high speed computing and communication and for his long-term
and consistent articulation of the potential value of the Internet to
American citizens and industry and, indeed, to the rest of the world.