NCSG Colleagues,
Forgive me if I reminisce a bit here. In November of 1992, a year and a half before China connected to the global Internet I was in Beijing delivering a 2400 baud Telebit Teleblazer to a scientific institute
in that city.
We used [expensive] dialup to connect to a similar modem at PeaceNet in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Earlier, in the 1980s, China was purchasing communications equipment from my research colleagues in Yugoslavia, in the part that is now Slovenia. Here I have a Canadian neighbor who was in charge of bringing
the Digital Equipment Corporation’s (DEC’s) PDP-10 to China in those years.
In the early '80s people from the San Francisco Bay Area, including the non-profits: ARC Foundation; Center for Innovative Diplomacy; Community Data Processing; and Foundation for the Arts of Peace came together
around a vision of a computer network to support the work of individuals and organizations working to reduce the risks of war and to promote peace. PeaceNet was launched. EcoNet, joined with PeaceNet to became the Institute for Global Communications (IGC),
which became a project of the Tides Foundation.
Much of that early history is almost lost, especially as the private sector “Internet whales” push to shape the Internet in commercial directions and write its history in their favor. In June of 1997, in Toronto,
with help from the World Bank and numerous international organizations we secured global funding for “Global Knowledge 97: Knowledge for Development in the Information Age”, an early global conference focused on peace and development via the Internet. We also
secured multilateral funding for Bellanet, at Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Bellanet was charged with promoting multilateral government use of the Internet. That early vision saw the Internet as a platform for global understanding,
peace and shared prosperity.
Closing on a humorous note, I worked with the woman who convinced Canada’s public Canadian Broadcasting System to have its first web page. The only argument that worked was when she explained that they could
sell coffee mugs and tee shirts online.
Sam Lanfranco, NCSG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telebit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Baran
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDP-10
From: NCSG-Discuss <[log in to unmask]>
On Behalf Of Marilia Maciel
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2024 5:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Event: 30 years of internet in China: Between past growth and future challenges
Dear colleagues,
The event below might be of interest. The 30th anniversary of China's connection to the global Internet will take place next week. Diplo and the Fuxi Institution jointly put together a very knowleageble panel, to look back at this period
of technological growth in China and in the West, and the challenges foreseen in the future. We hope you can join us on April 19th.
All the best,
Marilia
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______________________________
Marília Maciel, PhD
Head Digital Commerce and Internet Policy | Diplo
[log in to unmask] | @MariliaM
www.diplomacy.edu