IT and Telecom

Internet : a story in three testimonials

Date:
Changed on 09/12/2020
Last October 29th, we celebrated 51 years of the Internet. More than half a century of history, which we wanted to revisit through the stories of three of its pioneers : Gérard Le Lann, Michel Elie, and Philippe Picard.
creation internet
© Unsplash / Photo Joshua Sortino

 

Internet is the result of a collective work led by hundreds of researchers and engineers, from 1961 to 1983, in teams mainly from North America and Europe (Great Britain, Norway, France, in chronological order of contributions).

Its history has given rise to dozens of books, hundreds, even thousands of articles. In France, the story does not always meet with unanimous approval, and differs according to the point of view of each of its actors at the time of the events. Gérard Le Lann, Michel Elie, and Philippe Picard, all three players in the development of the Internet and packet networks in France and the United States, tell of their experiences as pioneers. 

Discover the history of the Internet in three testimonials

arpanet à internet

some milestones from the Arpanet to Internet in France

Michel Elie, an engineer specializing in the architecture of distributed computing systems, tells how he experienced the development of the Internet in France.

cyclades

From Stanford to Cyclades, a Transatlantic Vision of Internet Creation

This testimony is based on the experience and vision "from the inside" of Gérard Le Lann, ENSEEIHT Engineer and Doctor of State in Computer Science, during the 1970s.

internet

The development of the Internet : a historical overview from a “telecommunicator”

The engineer Philippe Picard tells the story of Arpanet's transition to the Internet, from his costume as a telecommunicator.