Google hires the Father of the Internet

By Steve Malone

Posted on 12 Sep 2005 at 10:52

As part of its continuing campaign to sign up the biggest guns in Internet development, Google says it has hired Vinton 'Vint' Cerf who is widely credited as the Father of the Internet. It was Cerf's work in designing the TCP/IP protocols that laid the foundations of the Internet.

Cerf's job title will be 'Chief Internet Evangelist', as though Google needs one of those. His role will be to build network infrastructure, architectures, systems, and standards for the next generation of Internet applications.

The man himself clearly has big ambitions for his new role. ' Google has already made tremendous strides in making access to information on the Web a reality,' he said. 'This medium will enjoy wider-spread use than television, radio or phones, and will ultimately expand beyond planet Earth. Google has always believed in doing things differently, and I believe that places us in a unique position to help bring even the wildest Internet visions into reality.'

Although Google Mars might sound a little fanciful, Cerf has spent the last few years working on NASA's Interplanetary Network, which aims to extend the Internet into outer space for planet-to-planet communications. He will also continue in his role as the Chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).