Seminar spotlights stories of internet pioneers

A seminar was hosted to discuss a new book series Oral History of Internet in Beijing on July 25.

The Oral History of Internet project was launched in 2007 by Fang Xingdong, who aims to interview and record the pioneers and key figures in the development of the internet via the method of oral history. So far more than 500 internet experts from over 50 countries and regions have been interviewed.

Fang said at the seminar, which was attended by around 30 internet researchers and experts from home and abroad, that when he first drafted a list of industry pioneers to interview, he realized that these people were not so well-known to the general public. During more than a decade of working on the project, he understood that the reach of the internet today was not possible without these people's contributions and dedication.

This April, the first set of the project's findings was published by CITIC Press Group, comprising eight volumes of interview transcripts with eight engineers and computer scientists who have made significant contributions to the internet - Bob Kahn, Lawrence Roberts, Leonard Kleinrock, Vint Cerf, Kilnam Chon, Louis Pouzin, Werner Zorn and Hu Qiheng.

Professor from Zhejiang University Wei Lu said that this series of books presents a panoramic view of the history of the internet, especially its early history, by recording a large number of first-hand accounts, and fills a gap in the relevant research field.