Editing Vint Cerf (section)

== Life and career ==
[[File:Vint Cerf - 2010.jpg|thumb|left|Vinton Cerf in [[Vilnius]], September 2010]]

Vinton Gray Cerf was born in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], on June 23, 1943, the son of Muriel (née Gray) and Vinton Thruston Cerf.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jerome |first=Richard |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20132347,00.html |title=Lending An Ear&nbsp;– Health, Real People Stories |work=People |date=September 18, 2000 |access-date=December 2, 2011 |archive-date=June 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619050855/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20132347,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.bookrags.com/biography/vinton-gray-cerf-wcs/2.html |title=Vinton Gray Cerf Biography |publisher=BookRags.com |access-date=December 2, 2011}}</ref> His mother was born in Canada and was of [[British people|British]], [[Irish people|Irish]], and [[French Canadians|French Canadian]] descent.<ref>{{Cite interview |last=Cerf |first=Vinton G. |interviewer=Suzanne Butler Gwiazda |title=Vinton G. Cerf : An Oral History |url=https://purl.stanford.edu/pj259nj7501 |work=Stanford Oral History Collections |date=February 4-5, 2019 |pages=18-20}}</ref> His paternal ancestors emigrated from [[Alsace–Lorraine]] to [[Kentucky]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cerf |first=Vinton G. |date=2017-04-01 |title=A Genetic Theory of the Silicon Valley Phenomenon |url=https://cacm.acm.org/opinion/a-genetic-theory-of-the-silicon-valley-phenomenon/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Communications of the ACM |language=en-US}}</ref> Cerf attended [[Van Nuys High School]] with [[Steve Crocker]] and [[Jon Postel]]. While in high school, Cerf worked at [[Rocketdyne]] on the [[Apollo program]] for six months and helped write statistical analysis software for the non-destructive tests of the [[Rocketdyne F-1|F-1 engines]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wientjes|first1=Greg|title=Creative Genius in Technology: Mentor Principles from Life Stories of Geniuses and Visionaries of the Singularity|date=2011|isbn=978-1463727505|page=93|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Vint Cerf Helped Create the Internet on the Back of an Envelope |last=Bobrow |first=Emily |date=December 16, 2022 |access-date=December 26, 2022 |website=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/vint-cerf-helped-create-the-internet-on-the-back-of-an-envelope-11671210858}}</ref>

Cerf received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from [[Stanford University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/january/vint-cerf-lecture-011414.html|title=Former Stanford professor and Internet inventor eyes safety in wired-up world|last=Parker|first=Clifton B.|date=2014-01-14|website=Stanford University|language=en|access-date=2020-04-27|archive-date=November 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191125022829/https://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/january/vint-cerf-lecture-011414.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> After college, Cerf worked at [[IBM]] as a [[systems engineer]] supporting [[QUIKTRAN]] for two years.<ref name="vita" />

Cerf and his wife Sigrid both have hearing deficiencies; they met at a [[hearing aid]] agent's practice in the 1960s,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.littlemag.com/listen/vintoncerf2.html|title=The Little Magazine - Listen - Vinton Cerf - The little deaf girl|website=www.littlemag.com|access-date=October 9, 2019|archive-date=2023-04-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409102115/http://www.littlemag.com/listen/vintoncerf2.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> leading him to advocate for [[accessibility]]. They later joined a [[Methodism|Methodist]] church and had two sons, David and Bennett.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mintz |first=Anita |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/food/1982/12/26/the-miracle-of-the-loaves/dbb2244f-f3df-4dcc-ac87-4a18f6645291/ |title=The Miracle of the Loaves |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1982-12-26 |accessdate=2022-05-26}}</ref>

He left IBM to attend graduate school at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]], where he earned his M.S. degree in 1970 and his PhD in 1972.<ref name="cerfphd" /><ref name="UCLAEngineering2005">{{cite web|url=http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/magazine/Spring05/turing.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060305044349/http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/magazine/Spring05/turing.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 5, 2006|title=UCLA School of Engineering Alumnus Chosen for Prestigious Turing Award|publisher=[[UCLA]] Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science|date=Spring 2005}}</ref> Cerf studied under Professor [[Gerald Estrin]] and worked in Professor [[Leonard Kleinrock]]'s [[data packet]] networking group that connected the first two nodes of the [[ARPANET]],<ref name="CNN1999_09_02">{{cite news |date=September 2, 1999 |title=Internet predecessor turns 30 |url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/02/internet.anniv/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608064303/http://www.cnn.com:80/TECH/computing/9909/02/internet.anniv/ |archive-date=June 8, 2008 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> the first node<ref name="CNN1999_09_02" /> on the Internet, and "contributed to a host-to-host protocol" for the ARPANET.<ref name="ACM2005_02_16" />

While at [[UCLA]], Cerf met [[Bob Kahn]], who was working on the ARPANET system architecture.<ref name="ACM2005_02_16">{{cite web|url=http://amturing.acm.org/award_winners/cerf_1083211.cfm|publisher=[[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]]|date=February 16, 2005|title=INTERNET PIONEERS CERF AND KAHN TO RECEIVE ACM TURING AWARD}}</ref> Cerf chaired the [[International Network Working Group]]. He wrote the first [[TCP/IP|TCP]] with [[Yogen K Dalal|Yogen Dalal]] and [[Carl Sunshine]], called ''Specification of Internet Transmission Control Program'' ({{IETF RFC|675}}), published in December 1974.<ref>Vinton Cerf, Yogen Dalal, Carl Sunshine, ''Specification of Internet Transmission Control Program'' ({{IETF RFC|675}}, December 1974)</ref>

Cerf worked as [[Professor#Assistant professor|assistant professor]] at Stanford University from 1972 to 1976 where he conducted research on packet network interconnection protocols and co-designed the DoD TCP/IP protocol suite with Kahn.<ref name="ACM2005_02_16" />

[[File:Vinton Cerf-20070512.jpg|thumb|left|Cerf playing ''[[Spacewar (video game)|Spacewar!]]'' on the [[Computer History Museum]]'s [[PDP-1]], [[ICANN]] meeting, 2007]]

From 1973 to 1982, Cerf worked at the United States [[DARPA|Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (DARPA) and funded various groups to develop TCP/IP, packet radio ([[PRNET]]), packet satellite ([[SATNET]]) and packet security technology.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cerf|first=Vinton G.|date=1990-04-24|title=Oral history interview with Vinton G. Cerf|url=https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/107214/oh191vgc.pdf|access-date=2020-06-04|website=University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy|publisher=Charles Babbage Institute|location=Minnesota, Minneapolis|page=24|quote=My first introduction to somebody at DARPA other than Bob Kahn and Steve Crocker was Craig. So it was fairly early on, I think by 1973, I was under contract to carry out the INTERNET research work.}}</ref> These efforts were rooted in the needs of the military.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cerf|first=Vinton G.|date=1990-04-24|title=Oral history interview with Vinton G. Cerf|url=https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/107214/oh191vgc.pdf|access-date=2020-06-04|website=University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy|publisher=Charles Babbage Institute|location=Minnesota, Minneapolis|page=28|quote=we absolutely wanted to bring data communications to the field, which is what the packet radio project and the packet satellite projects were about [...]. So the whole effort was very strongly motivated by bringing computers into the field in the military and then making it possible for them to communicate with each other in the field and to assets that were in the rear of the theatre of operations. So all of the demonstrations that we did had military counterparts.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Vint|first=Cerf|date=2017-06-27|title=Vint Cerf: The past, present and future of the internet|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd-dUqecao8&t=109 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Yd-dUqecao8| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2020-06-04|website=Youtube|publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lukasik|first=Stephen J.|author-link=Stephen J. Lukasik|date=1972-02-16|title=Department of Defense Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1973: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee On Appropriations, United States Senate, Ninety-second Congress, Second Session, On H. R. [16593] pt.1|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007865753|access-date=2020-06-04|via=HathiTrust Digital Library|publisher=University of California|location=Washington|page=775 ff|quote=the tools and techniques to be developed will be available on systems of the ARPA network and therefore will be immediately accessible by the services [...]. [...] making excellent progress toward our objective of developing the capability to have computers consider large quantities of complex, real world information and form generalizations and plans based on the totality of information [...]. Progress in these areas is important for the intelligence agencies, especially in intelligence analysis and question-answering systems.}}</ref> In the late 1980s, Cerf moved to [[MCI Communications|MCI]] where he helped develop the first commercial email system ([[MCI Mail]]) to be connected to the Internet, in 1989.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Meet Mr. Internet: Vint Cerf - IEEE Spectrum |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/vint-cerf |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=[[IEEE]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Cerf|first=Vinton G.|date=1990-04-24|title=Oral history interview with Vinton G. Cerf|url=https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/107214/oh191vgc.pdf|access-date=2020-06-04|website=University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy|publisher=Charles Babbage Institute|location=Minnesota, Minneapolis|page=30|quote=This was a challenge that would use all my DARPA-acquired skills and know-how. What emerged was MCI Mail.}}</ref>

Cerf is active in a number of global humanitarian organizations.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lennon|first=Conor|date=2019-06-10|title=Internet pioneer: Education, smart regulation needed for digital future|work=UN News|publisher=United Nations|url=https://news.un.org/en/audio/2019/06/1040191|access-date=2020-06-04|quote=member of the UN High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation}}</ref> Cerf typically appears in a [[three-piece suit]]; a rarity in an industry known for its casual dress norms.<ref>[http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Internet-pioneer-Vint-Cerf-looks-to-the-future-1244478.php "Internet pioneer Vint Cerf looks to the future"], Todd Bishop, ''Seattle P-I'', July 23, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31450389|title=Google's Vint Cerf warns of 'digital Dark Age'|last1=Ghosh|first1=Pallab |work=[[BBC News]]|date=February 13, 2015|access-date=February 13, 2015}}</ref>

As vice president of MCI Digital Information Services from 1982 to 1986, Cerf led the engineering of [[MCI Mail]], which became the first commercial email service to be connected to the Internet in 1989.<ref name=":6"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Vinton G. Cerf : An Oral History |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/oral-history/catalog/pj259nj7501 |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=Stanford Oral History Collections - Spotlight at Stanford |page=119 |language=en}}</ref> In 1986, he joined Bob Kahn at the [[Corporation for National Research Initiatives]] as its vice president, working with Kahn on [[Digital library|Digital Libraries]], Knowledge Robots, and gigabit speed networks. Since 1988 Cerf lobbied for the privatization of the internet.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cerf|first=Vinton G.|title=Digital Democracy: Past, Present, Future|journal=Digital Government: Research and Practice|publisher=Association for Computing Machinery|date=2020| issue=1| doi=10.1145/3382738 |pages=1–10|s2cid=211519549|quote=I pushed for privatization as early as 1988, just five years after turning the Internet on, on the grounds that I believed that, in order to reach the general public, we needed to have an economic engine that would drive it, sustain it, make it survivable or sustainable.|doi-access=free}}</ref> In 1992, he and Kahn, among others, founded the [[Internet Society]] (ISOC) to provide leadership in education, policy and standards related to the Internet. Cerf served as the first president of ISOC. Cerf rejoined MCI in 1994 and served as Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy. In this role, he helped to guide corporate strategy development from a technical perspective. Previously, he served as MCI's senior vice president of Architecture and Technology, leading a team of architects and engineers to design advanced networking frameworks, including Internet-based solutions for delivering a combination of data, information, voice and video services for business and consumer use.

During 1997, Cerf joined the board of trustees of [[Gallaudet University]], a university for the education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing.<ref>[http://news.gallaudet.edu/newsreleases/index.asp?ID=2898 Dr. Vinton G. Cerf Appointed to Gallaudet University's Board of Trustees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823035148/http://news.gallaudet.edu/newsreleases/index.asp?ID=2898 |date=August 23, 2009 }}, from that university's website</ref> Cerf himself is hard of hearing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://deafness.about.com/cs/celebfeatures/a/vintoncerf.htm |title=Vinton Cerf&nbsp;– Father of the Internet, Vinton Cerf |publisher=Deafness.about.com |date=August 28, 2010 |access-date=December 2, 2011 |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104212006/http://deafness.about.com/cs/celebfeatures/a/vintoncerf.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>  He has also served on the university's Board of Associates.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.gallaudet.edu/development_and_alumni_relations/board_of_associates.html| title=Board of Associates| publisher=Gallaudet University| access-date=April 3, 2014| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407085522/https://www.gallaudet.edu/development_and_alumni_relations/board_of_associates.html| archive-date=April 7, 2014| df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Cerf, as leader of MCI's internet business, was criticized due to MCI's role in providing the IP addresses used by Send-Safe.com, a vendor of spamware that uses a [[botnet]] in order to send spam. MCI refused to terminate the spamware vendor.<ref name="spamcomplaintdraft">{{cite newsgroup |title=Re: ACM ethics complaint against Cerf – first draft |author=Socks the Whitehouse Cat |date=February 19, 2005 |newsgroup=comp.org.acm |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/comp.org.acm/aHUVtwgWzus/tk2tZQXqwesJ |access-date=June 9, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://oreilly.com/spamkings/archives/2005/02/protest_brewing.html |title=Protest brewing against Internet pioneer |last=McWilliams |first=Brian |date=February 16, 2005 |website=Spam Kings Blog |access-date=June 9, 2014}}</ref> At the time, [[The Spamhaus Project|Spamhaus]] also listed MCI as the ISP with the most Spamhaus Block List listings.<ref>{{cite newsgroup |title=ACM ethics complaint against Cerf – first draft |author=Socks the Whitehouse Cat |date=February 25, 2005 |newsgroup=comp.org.acm |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/comp.org.acm/aHUVtwgWzus/tk2tZQXqwesJ |access-date=June 9, 2014}}</ref>

Cerf has worked for [[Google]] as a vice president and Chief [[Technology evangelist|Internet Evangelist]] since October 2005.<ref name="google"/> In this function he has become well known for his predictions on how technology will affect future society, encompassing such areas as [[artificial intelligence]], environmentalism, the advent of [[IPv6]] and the transformation of the television industry and its delivery model.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070910222208/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fconnected%2F2007%2F09%2F08%2Fdlbroad08.xml The Daily Telegraph], August 2007</ref>

Cerf has served as a commissioner for the [[Broadband Commission for Digital Development]], a UN body which aims to make broadband internet technologies more widely available<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 2010 |title=A 2010 Leadership Imperative: The Future Built on Broadband |url=https://www.broadbandcommission.org/Documents/publications/Report_1.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901054317/https://www.broadbandcommission.org/Documents/publications/Report_1.pdf |archive-date=1 September 2022 |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=Broadband Commission}}</ref>

Cerf helped fund and establish [[ICANN]], the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.  He joined the board in 1999 and served until November 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icann.org/biog/cerf.htm |title=ICANN Board of Directors&nbsp;– Vinton G. Cerf |publisher=Icann.org |date=February 14, 2011 |access-date=December 2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630131029/http://www.icann.org/biog/cerf.htm |archive-date=June 30, 2007 }}</ref> He was chairman from November 2000 to his departure from the board.

Cerf was a member of Bulgarian President [[Georgi Parvanov]]'s IT Advisory Council (from March 2002 to January 2012). He is also a member of the advisory board of [[Eurasia Group]], the political risk consultancy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurasiagroup.net/advisory-board |title=Eurasia Group |publisher=Eurasia Group |access-date=December 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928012248/http://www.eurasiagroup.net/advisory-board |archive-date=September 28, 2011  }}</ref>

Cerf is also working on the [[Interplanetary Internet]], together with [[NASA]]'s [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] and other NASA laboratories. It will be a new standard to communicate from planet to planet, using radio/laser communications that are tolerant of signal degradations including variable delay and disruption caused, for example, by celestial motion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipnsig.org/ |title=The InterPlaNetary Internet Project IPN Special Interest Group |publisher=Ipnsig.org |access-date=December 2, 2011}}</ref>

On February 7, 2006, Cerf testified before the [[U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce|U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation]]'s hearing on [[network neutrality|net neutrality]]. Speaking as Google's Chief Internet Evangelist, Cerf noted that nearly half of all US consumers lacked meaningful choice in broadband providers and expressed concerns that without network neutrality government regulation, broadband providers would be able to use their dominance to limit options for consumers and charge companies like Google for their use of bandwidth.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://commerce.senate.gov/pdf/cerf-020706.pdf |title=Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce |access-date=December 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217133220/http://commerce.senate.gov/pdf/cerf-020706.pdf |archive-date=December 17, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Image:VintCerfJI3.jpg|left|thumb|Cerf at 2007 Los Angeles ICANN meeting]]

Cerf currently serves on the board of advisors of [[Scientists and Engineers for America]], an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721002340/http://www.sefora.org/about/board-of-advisors/ SEA's Board of Advisors]. sefora.org</ref> He also serves on the advisory council of [[CRDF Global]] (Civilian Research and Development Foundation) and was on the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT) International Advisory Board.<ref>[http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,62058564,00.htm "Govt red tape adds to security threats"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091221091938/http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,62058564,00.htm |date=December 21, 2009 }}, Vivian Yeo, ZDNet, October 12, 2009</ref>

Cerf was elected as the president of the [[Association for Computing Machinery]] in May 2012<ref name="ACM">[http://www.acm.org/press-room/news-releases/2012/acm-officers-2012 ACM Elects Vint Cerf as President] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526231209/http://www.acm.org/press-room/news-releases/2012/acm-officers-2012|date=May 26, 2012}} from the ACM website</ref> and joined the Council on CyberSecurity's Board of Advisors in August 2013.<ref>[http://www.counciloncybersecurity.org/about-us/advisory-board "Advisory Board"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917021956/http://www.counciloncybersecurity.org/about-us/advisory-board|date=September 17, 2013}}, Council on CyberSecurity website. Retrieved September 27, 2013.</ref>

From 2011 to 2016, Cerf was chairman of the board of trustees of [[ARIN]], the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) of IP addresses for the United States, Canada, and part of the Caribbean.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arin.net/about_us/media/releases/20101022.html |title=ARIN Announces Newly Elected Board of Trustees |publisher=Arin.net |access-date=December 2, 2011}}</ref> Until Fall 2015, Cerf chaired the board of directors of [[StopBadware]], a non-profit anti-malware organization that started as a project at Harvard University's [[Berkman Center for Internet & Society]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stopbadware.org/board |title=Board of Directors |publisher=StopBadware |access-date=January 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117031129/http://www.stopbadware.org/board |archive-date=January 17, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://stopbadware.org/home/pr_012306 |title=Harvard's Berkman Center and the Oxford Internet Institute Unveil StopBadware.org Backed by Google, Lenovo, Sun; Consumer Reports WebWatch Takes Unpaid Special Advisor Role |publisher=StopBadware |date=January 23, 2006 |access-date=December 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929105703/http://stopbadware.org/home/pr_012306 |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Cerf is on the board of advisors to The Liquid Information Company Ltd of the UK, which works to make the web more usefully interactive and which has produced the Mac OS X utility called 'Liquid'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liquid.info/company.html |title=The Liquid Information Company |publisher=Liquid.info |access-date=July 1, 2013}}</ref> Vint Cerf is a member of the [[CuriosityStream]] Advisory Board.<ref>{{cite web|title=CuriosityStream Advisory Board|url=https://curiositystream.com/board|access-date=August 31, 2015}}</ref>

During 2008, Cerf chaired the [[Internationalized domain name]] (IDNAbis) working group of the [[IETF]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://tools.ietf.org/wg/idnabis |title=IDNAbis WG |publisher=Tools.ietf.org |access-date=December 2, 2011}}</ref> In 2008 Cerf was a major contender to be designated the first U.S. [[Chief Technology Officer of the United States|Chief Technology Officer]] by President [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16189.html |title=The 5 best jobs Obama has yet to fill&nbsp;– Craig Gordon and Ben Smith |publisher=Politico.Com |date=December 4, 2008 |access-date=December 2, 2011}}</ref> Cerf is the co-chair of [[Campus Party|Campus Party Silicon Valley]], the US edition of one of the largest technology festivals in the world, along with [[Al Gore]] and [[Tim Berners-Lee]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Daniel Ben-Horin |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-benhorin/the-kids-are-alright-camp_b_1105795.html |title=The Kids Are Alright: Campus Party, Silicon Valley Tech Festival Rocks NASA  |work=Huffington Post |date=November 21, 2011 |access-date=March 6, 2013}}</ref>

From 2009 to 2011, Cerf was an elected member of the governing board of the [[Smart Grid Interoperability Panel]] (SGIP). SGIP is a public-private consortium established by NIST in 2009 and provides a forum for businesses and other stakeholder groups to participate in coordinating and accelerating development of standards for the evolving Smart Grid.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Smart Grid Interoperability Panel Launched; Governing Board Elected| journal=NIST| date=November 19, 2009| url=https://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/smartgrid_111909.cfm| access-date=November 19, 2009}}</ref>

Cerf was elected to a two-year term as president of the [[Association for Computing Machinery]] (ACM) beginning July 1, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=ACM Elects Vint Cerf as President|url=http://www.acm.org/press-room/news-releases/2012/acm-officers-2012|publisher=ACM|access-date=May 25, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526231209/http://www.acm.org/press-room/news-releases/2012/acm-officers-2012|archive-date=May 26, 2012}}</ref> On January 16, 2013, U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] announced his intent to appoint Cerf to the [[National Science Board]].<ref>{{cite web |date=January 16, 2013 |title=President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/16/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts |access-date=January 20, 2013 |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |via=[[NARA|National Archives]]}}</ref> Cerf served until May 2018 when his six-year term expired. In 2015 Cerf co-founded (with [[Mei Lin Fung]]) and until December 2019 chaired the People-Centered Internet (PCI).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nation.co.ke/oped/blogs/dot9/ndemo/2274486-2967680-format-xhtml-usx21b/index.html |title=Economies grow far better with inclusivity and compromise |publisher=DailyNation |date=November 23, 2015 |access-date=February 28, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.peoplecentered.net |title=Welcome to the People-Centered Internet |publisher=PCI |access-date=June 13, 2024}}</ref> 

Cerf is also among the 15 members of governing council of [[International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Governing Council|url=https://www.iiit.ac.in/about/governing-council/|work=International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad|access-date=April 18, 2016}}</ref>

In June 2016, his work with NASA led to [[delay-tolerant networking]] being installed on the [[International Space Station]] with an aim towards an [[Interplanetary Internet]].<ref name="NASA">{{cite web|last1=Mahoney|first1=Erin|title=Space Internet Technology Debuts on the International Space Station|url=http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-solar-system-internet-technology-debuts-on-the-international-space-station|date=June 21, 2016|access-date=June 27, 2016|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108101336/https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-solar-system-internet-technology-debuts-on-the-international-space-station/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since at least 2015, Cerf has been raising concerns about the wide-ranging risks of [[digital obsolescence]], the potential of losing much historic information about our time – a [[Digital dark age|digital "Dark Age"]] or "black hole" – given the ubiquitous digital storage of text, data, images, music and more. Among the concerns are the long-term storage of, and continued reliable access to, our vast stores of present-day digital data and the associated programs, operating systems, computers and peripherals required to access such.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/16/digital-black-hole-delete-memories-information-lost-google-vint-cerf|title=The digital black hole: will it delete your memories?|last=Dartnell|first=Lewis|date=February 16, 2015|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=November 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2883759/vint-cerf-fears-a-digital-dark-age-and-your-data-could-be-at-risk.html|title=Vint Cerf fears a 'digital dark age,' and your data could be at risk|last=Noyes|first=Katherine|work=Computerworld|access-date=November 11, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/02/13/386000092/internet-pioneer-warns-our-era-could-become-the-digital-dark-ages|title=Internet Pioneer Warns Our Era Could Become The 'Digital Dark Ages'|work=NPR.org|access-date=November 11, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31450389|title=Net pioneer warns of data Dark Age|last=Ghosh|first=Pallab|date=February 13, 2015|work=BBC News|access-date=November 11, 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>