EAGER: The NSF Role in the Development of the Internet

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This award funds research on the development of the Internet from science to technology to commercialization. The Internet is frequently cited as an outstanding example of successful technology transfer from the research community to the worldwide marketplace, but relatively little research has been done on the actual process through which that translation occurred. This research will focus on the period from 1980 until 1996 during which a partnership among universities, industry and the Federal government supported projects such as CSNET and NSFNET that laid the foundation for the global Internet. As a result, this research will augment our knowledge regarding the conditions under which information technology innovation can successfully be transferred to the market.While the early development of Internet protocols and their implementation in the ARPANET has been treated exhaustively in the literature, the further development and broad adoption of Internet technology and its transition to commercial reality is not well understood. Starting with the state of Internet technology in 1980 and moving through the CSNET, BITNET and NSFNET projects, the investigators study the key developments that led to the establishment of the first commercial Internet providers in the 1990s. The work will be based primarily on original sources including a large number of interviews with the key participants and documents from the period. Both investigators, Douglas Van Houweling and Lawrence Landweber, played leadership roles and have the contacts and background to deliver a full account of the key deliberations and decisions over this sixteen-year period. Intellectual Merit: The development and adoption of Internet technology is one of the most significant events in our history. While scholars have analyzed the technology of the Internet and the story of its invention, very little work has been devoted to the key role played by the partnership among universities, corporations and the Federal government in supporting the development required to scale that technology and demonstrate its potential to serve a national, then global, community. Equally important, little study has been devoted to the translation of the Internet into commercial success. Further, there has been scant coverage of the impact of the social, economic, and policy environments that accompanied this development. Comprehensive coverage of the period from 1980 until 1996 will remedy this critical gap in understanding.Broader Impacts: The total federal funding supporting the development and deployment of the Internet through 1996 was less than $250 million. In 2010, the Internet industry contributed more than $600 billion to the economy of the United States. By any measure, this is an extraordinary return on investment. Experience in global Internet-based activity has positioned the nation for additional growth if we are able to understand how to stimulate and support the translation of research to disruptive innovation and how that innovation can be sustained. A comprehensive study of the key period of transition from the Internet as a research innovation into an Internet industry should inform science policy decisions that can drive the nation?s future. The researchers intend to publish the results in articles and monographs. In addition, they will make arrangements for long-term hosting and website access to the digitized and transcribed interviews and other source documents. As a result the study will provide a resource for more extensive scholarship and decision-making regarding the continued development and governance of the Internet itself.