The Goals of the U. S. Defence Department Network Essay

The Goals of the U. S. Defence Department Network - Essay Example The telegraph, radio, and telephone, which were the most commonly used medium of communication the past have been shadowed by the internet. The popularity of the internet has increased so much that it has become a worldwide network that has the capabilities to connect individuals via mobile/computer/smartphones/etc., irrespective of geographic constraints (Odlyzko, 2000, pp.31-56). The growth of internet can be attributed five major factors namely, technology, social, political, academic and commercial.  The Internet has evolved into a widespread information infrastructure but if one traces back its history it will be revealed that its origin is very controversial and complicated. Further, there are many factors that contributed its growth over the years including political, technology, academic, social and commercial. The objective of this study is to critically evaluate the factors that contributed to the growth of internet that consequently led to the development of e-commerce a s a new business practice. In the late 1950s, ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) was formed in the United States whose primary aims was to develop technologies that could endure any nuclear attack. A meeting between the private sector contractors, ARPA university with the representatives of US DOD (Department of Defence) in the year 1967 determined the possible protocols to be used when information exchange would take place via computers. This lead to the development of ARPANET in the year 1969. This network initially connected four sites – Stanford Research Institute, the University of California (in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara), and University of Utah. Most of the 70’s were dedicated by researchers to the development of protocols for moving messages across the system of networks, controlling network connections and also allowing remote access to networks.