Recognized with the 7th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Information and Communication Technologies, American engineer Leonard Kleinrock explains in this interview how his queueing theory and packet switching laid the conceptual foundations of the modern Internet. Kleinrock recounts the milestones that shaped the evolution of networks —from the first computer-to-computer connection made in 1969 to his vision of a globally interconnected system acting as the world’s nervous system. He also reflects on the transfer of academic research into real social impact and how he foresaw a future in which every device —and perhaps every person— could communicate through a shared network of “channels.”
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Information and Communication Technologies category has been granted in this seventh edition to American engineer Leonard Kleinrock for his sem
Recognized with the 7th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Information and Communication Technologies, American engineer Leonard Kleinrock explains in this interview how his queueing theory and packet switching laid the conceptual foundations of the modern Internet. Kleinrock recounts the milestones that shaped the evolution of networks —from the first computer-to-computer connection made in 1969 to his vision of a globally interconnected system acting as the world’s nervous system. He also reflects on the transfer of academic research into real social impact and how he foresaw a future in which every device —and perhaps every person— could communicate through a shared network of “channels.”
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Information and Communication Technologies category has been granted in this seventh edition to American engineer Leonard Kleinrock for his seminal contributions to the theory and practical development of the Internet, in particular to the development of packet switching transmission.
00:00 Introduction
00:05 You are known for having established the first remote connection between two computers. Why were you chosen by ARPA for this task?
00:47 What was your role in establishing that connection?
03:36 How do you remember that moment, which is considered the first step in the history of the Internet?
04:22 Did this development arise from the ARPANET experience, or was it already part of your work?
05:46 What other applications of packet-switched network development do you find most interesting? In other words, what did packet switching mean for the Internet compared to what it might have been if it had been based on circuit switching?
09:02 In 1969, you published an article in which you tried to anticipate the future of the Internet. To what extent were your predictions accurate, and to what extent have they been surpassed by later events?
11:39 What do you expect the Internet to become in the future, and what are the next challenges?
