Elon team documents Internet Hall of Fame

Mia Watkins and Brian Mezerski conduct an interview at the International IT Fest in Hong Kong.[/caption]The Imagining the Internet Center of Elon University’s School of Communications sponsored a documentary journalism team’s work in Hong Kong April 7-9, 2014, assembling coverage of the Internet Hall of Fame Induction and associated events. The team also conducted long-form interviews about Internet evolution with 28 global Internet leaders.

The team was led by Anthony Hatcher, associate professor of communications, and Aaron Moger, a video producer for University Communications. 

Students on the ethnographic research team included Mia Watkins, Sky Cowans, Brian Mezerski, Addie Haney and Jason Puckett.

Jason Puckett records proceedings at the Internet Hall of Fame event in Hong Kong.[/caption]The Hall of Fame events, hosted by the Internet Society, took place in conjunction with the International IT Fest in Hong Kong.

The researchers interviewed 28 leaders of Internet evolution past and present, including Eric Allman, Scott Bradner, Karlheinz Brandenburg, John Cioffi, Keith Davidson, Dai Davies, Christina Engelbart, Susan Estrada, Demi Getschko, Mika Hirabaru, Maemura Akinnori, Eric Huizer, Abhaya Induruwa, Dennis Jennings, Michael Kende, Ir Daniel Lai, Jason Livingood, Irine Misoi, Charles Mok, Radia Perlman, Mahabir Pun, Hualin Qian, Srinivasan Ramani, Michael Roberts, Ben Segal, Chester Soong, Douglas Van Houweling, Andreu Vea and Paul Vixie. 

Interviewees were asked about their roles in Internet leadership and encouraged to share anecdotes and talk about their greatest concerns and hopes for the future evolution of networked communications.

To view the Imagining the Internet team coverage, see the following:

Internet Expert Interviews: http://www.elon.edu/e-web/imagining/event-coverage/hof_itfest_2014/future_internet_interviews.xhtml

Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony: http://www.elon.edu/e-web/imagining/event-coverage/internet_hof_inductions/2014_internet_hall_of_fame_induction.xhtml

Events: http://www.elon.edu/e-web/imagining/event-coverage/hof_itfest_2014/future_internet_panel_discussion.xhtml

Elon’s Imagining the Internet team documented the 2014 Internet Hall of Fame ceremonies.[/caption]Imagining the Internet is a global-good project and winner of Computerworld Honors and a Webby Award. The project asks people to share their views about the Internet – past, present and future – as a public service. Imagining the Internet’s mission is to illuminate the evolution, impact and potential influences of communications networks in order to inform policy development, expose likely futures and provide a historic record.

Elon is the only university in the world that annually funds undergraduate research to document important global discussions of the future of communications. The U.S. Library of Congress is adding this work to its digital archive. Elon students have annually been presenting their Internet research findings at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research.

The Imagining the Internet Center is directed by Janna Anderson, associate professor of communications.