As one of the “fathers of the Internet” and co-inventor of the TCP/IP protocol, Vint Cerf will forever be the backbone of any digital infrastructure power list. From serving as Chief Internet Evangelist at Google to being a member of the US National Science Board and Commissioner for the Broadband Commission for Digital Development (a UN coalition focused on making broadband Internet more widely available), Cerf has spent his career both anticipating new technological and environmental requirements and developing the infrastructure to accommodate them. A founding member of the Internet Ecosystem Innovation Committee (IEIC), he continually works closely with other industry leaders to diversify the Internet and transform regions with new job opportunities and socioeconomic benefits. His sustained leadership in critical Internet infrastructure was recently recognized with an IEEE Medal of Honor. An advocate for net neutrality and equitable access to the Internet, Cerf doesn’t limit his connection efforts just to the Internet on this planet, either: he is also working with NASA to establish interplanetary Internet between Earth, Mars, and the moon.
