Members of the public can, starting from January 11, propose nominees to be inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame ahead of the honoring ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey next year in June.
Nominees will be proposed in three categories namely ‘Pioneers Circle’, ‘Innovators’ and ‘Global Connectors’.
Under the ‘Pioneers Circle’, the public is expected to nominate individuals they consider instrumental in the early designing and development of the Internet. Among inductees to this segment include Polish-born Paul Baran, who invented packet switching techniques, and Vint Cerf widely known as the ‘father of the internet’ having co-designed the TCP/IP protocol and for his role in the architecture of the Net.
Under the ‘Innovators’ category, the public will nominate individuals who have made outstanding technological, commercial or policy advances and helped in expand Internet access.
Last year, 10 people were inducted in this category including avid programmer Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux system, and Mitchell Baker, the founding Chairperson of Mozilla Firefox.
In the third category, the public will propose names of people they consider to have been instrumental in the growth, connectivity, and use of the Internet – either on a global scale or within a specific region or community.
2012 saw nine individuals inducted into the Hall of Fame, including former US Vice President Al Gore, who is credited with sponsoring legislation that funded the expansion of and greater public access to the Internet.
It is the second time the hall of fame will be organized. The inaugural inductees were announced last year in Geneva, Switzerland.
