The first Itojun Service Award was presented today at this week’s Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) meeting in Hiroshima, Japan to Lorenzo Colitti and Erik Kline of Google for their outstanding contributions to the development and deployment of IPv6, the next generation Internet protocol.
Announced last year, the Itojun Service Award honours the memory of Dr. Jun-ichiro “itojun” Hagino, who passed away in 2007, aged just 37. The award, established by the friends of itojun and administered by the Internet Society, recognises and commemorates the extraordinary dedication exercised by itojun over the course of IPv6 development.
“The sustained efforts of Lorenzo and Erik have tangibly increased the availability of Web-based services that use IPv6, reflecting the Itojun Service Award’s focus on pragmatic contributions in the spirit of serving the global Internet’s continued evolution,” said Jun Murai of the Itojun Service Award committee and Director of the WIDE Project. “The Itojun Service award aims to recognize how important both the development of IPv6 and related protocols and efforts to advance their deployment are to ensuring the Internet continues to serve as a platform for innovation around the world.”
The Itojun Service Award is focused on pragmatic contributions to developing and deploying IPv6 in the spirit of serving the Internet. The award, expected to be presented annually, includes a presentation crystal, a US$3,000 honorarium and a travel grant.
Lorenzo Colitti, Network Engineer at Google said, “This is a great honour. Itojun is a legend in the IPv6 community, and the Internet is indebted to him. Without his foundational work, none of what we achieved with IPv6 would be possible – we stand on the shoulders of giants. Itojun has been a source of inspiration, and I regret never being able to meet him, to show him our work, and show him that we too shared his vision of bringing IPv6 to the users of the Internet.”
Erik Kline, IPv6 Software Engineer at Google said, “It’s humbling to be sharing the Itojun Service Award, having achieved by comparison only a small fraction of the impact of his widely influential body of work. For me personally, Google’s IPv6 efforts are not just for the Internet and its future but also a way to honour his vision, dedication, and passion.”
IPv6 was developed within the IETF, the Internet’s premier standards-making body responsible for the development of protocols used in IP-based networks. IETF participants represent an international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers involved in the technical operation of the Internet and the continuing evolution of Internet architecture.