Internet Society

Vision

The Internet is for everyone.

Mission

The Internet Society supports and promotes the development of the Internet as a global technical infrastructure, a resource to enrich people’s lives, and a force for good in society.

Our work aligns with our goals for the Internet to be open, globally-connected, secure, and trustworthy. We seek collaboration with all who share these goals.

Together, we focus on:

• Building and supporting the communities that make the Internet work;

• Advancing the development and application of Internet infrastructure, technologies, and open standards; and

• Advocating for policy that is consistent with our view of the Internet

Highlights of Activities

To help achieve our mission, the Internet Society:

• Facilitates open development of standards, protocols, administration, and the technical infrastructure of the Internet.

• Supports education in developing countries specifically, and wherever the need exists.

• Promotes professional development and builds community to foster participation and leadership in areas important to the evolution of the Internet.

• Provides reliable information about the Internet.

• Provides forums for discussion of issues that affect Internet evolution, development and use in technical, commercial, societal, and other contexts.

• Fosters an environment for international cooperation, community, and a culture that enables self-governance to work.

• Serves as a focal point for cooperative efforts to promote the Internet as a positive tool to benefit all people throughout the world.

• Provides management and coordination for on-strategy initiatives and outreach efforts in humanitarian, educational, societal, and other contexts.

The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet-related standards, education, access, and policy. Its mission is “to promote the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world”.

 

The Internet Society has its global headquarters in Reston, Virginia, United States (near Washington, D.C.), a major office in Geneva, Switzerland, and regional bureaus in Brussels, Singapore, and Montevideo. It has a global membership base of more than 100,000 organizational and individual members.

 

The Internet Society was formed officially in 1992 by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn with one of its purposes being to provide a corporate structure to support the Internet standards development process. Cerf, Kahn, and Lyman Chapin released a document, Announcing ISOC, which explained the rationale for establishing the Internet Society. This document also defines the original charter of the organization as follows:

 

The Society will be a non-profit organization and will be operated for international educational, charitable, and scientific purposes, among which are:

 

• To facilitate and support the technical evolution of the Internet as a research and education infrastructure and to stimulate involvement of the academic, scientific, and engineering communities (among others) in the evolution of the Internet.
• To educate the academic and scientific communities and the public concerning the technology, use, and application of the Internet.
• To promote scientific and educational applications of Internet technology for the benefit of educational institutions at all grade levels, industry, and the public at large.
• To provide a forum for exploration of new Internet applications and to foster collaboration among organizations in their operation and use of the Internet.

—Wikipedia