It was in 1973 when Cerf and Robert E. Kahn developed TCP/IP, the protocols that form the basis of the Internet. Fast-forward to last week, and Cerf was at Sacramento City Hall delivering the keynote at the inaugural Future Worlds Symposium.
In Cerf’s presentation, titled the “Desirable Properties of an IoT Ecosystem,” he listed the must-have properties of Internet of Things devices:
- Reliability: Don’t want high probability of not working
- Safety: Won’t use if not safe
- Security: Won’t use if appears insecure
- Privacy: Won’t use if privacy is likely to be breached
- Interoperability: Won’t use if it cannot interoperate between brands
- Autonomy: Won’t use if it fails when Internet is down
In a question-and-answer period moderated by Sacramento’s chief innovation officer, Louis Stewart, Cerf made the following observations:
- In regards to the skills needed for a modern workforce, he stated that basic math skills are essential. In addition, critical thinking is also paramount — citing the ability to sort through misinformation as an example. In addition, because technology is constantly changing, people need to constantly be learning.
- One of his pet peeves is hearing, “I thought Al Gore invented the Internet.” Cerf does credit Gore for recognizing the importance of the Internet and writing legislation that helped enable the commercial use of the Internet, which was called the “Information Super Highway.”
- He doesn't see long-term viability for cryptocurrency.
Thursday's event was organized by the Sacramento Association of Computing Machinery and hosted by the city of Sacramento. The event was intended to highlight the region’s focus on technology and innovation.
As Mayor Darrell Steinberg stated: “We are no longer satisfied with being just a government town.”
