Just forty years ago, most of the world had not yet heard the words “computer network” or “internet.” But Israel had already joined the annals of digital history. Upon receiving the country-code top-level domain .IL, Israel became the third country in the world to claim an address in the online space – right behind the United States and the United Kingdom. It was the Inter-University Computation Center (IUCC), home to Israel’s NREN, that made all that happen.
We are honored that Prof. Danny Dolev, one of IUCC’s first Chairmen, and Hank Nussbacher, IUCC’s current Network Manager and Bitnet pioneer, the first academic communications network that would be the precursor to the global internet, were inducted into the first cohort of the Israel Internet Association (ISOC-IL) Hall of Fame in Jerusalem on June 3 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Internet in Israel.
Eight other visionaries, who saw the potential, seized the opportunity, fought to embed powerful networks into academia and industry, and laid the infrastructure for what would soon transform Israel into the Start-Up nation were inducted alongside Nussbacher and Dolev.
Hank Nussbacher
Prof. Danny Dolev