RFC 1120 (rfc1120) - Page 2 of 11

Internet Activities Board

RFC 1120                        The IAB                   September 1989


   1979, it was necessary to form an informal committee to guide the
   technical evolution of the protocol suite.  This group was called the
   Internet Configuration Control Board (ICCB) and was established by
   Dr. Vinton Cerf who was then the DARPA program manager for the
   effort.  Dr. David C. Clark of the Lab for Computer Science at
   Massachusetts Institute of Technology was named the chairman of this
   committee.

   In January, 1983, the Defense Communications Agency, then responsible
   for the operation of the ARPANET, declared the TCP/IP protocol suite
   to be standard for the ARPANET and all systems on the network
   converted from the earlier Network Control Program (NCP) to TCP/IP.
   Late that year, the ICCB was reorganized by Dr. Barry Leiner, Cerf's
   successor at DARPA, around a series of task forces considering
   different technical aspects of internetting.  The re-organized group
   was named the Internet Activities Board.

   As the Internet expanded, it drew support from U.S. Government
   organizations including DARPA, the National Science Foundation (NSF),
   the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Aeronautics and Space
   Administration (NASA).  Key managers in these organizations,
   responsible for computer networking research and development, formed
   an informal Federal Research Internet Coordinating Committee (FRICC)
   to coordinate U.S. Government support for and development and use of
   the Internet system.  The FRICC sponsors most of the U.S. research on
   internetting, including support for the Internet Activities Board and
   its subsidiary organizations.

   At the international level, a Coordinating Committee for
   Intercontinental Research Networks (CCIRN) has been formed which
   includes the U.S.  FRICC and its counterparts in North America and
   Europe.  The CCIRN provides a forum for cooperative planning among
   the principal North American and European research networking bodies.

2. Internet Activities Board

   The Internet Activities Board (IAB) is the coordinating committee for
   Internet design, engineering and management.  The Internet is a
   collection of over a thousand packet switched networks located
   principally in the U.S., but also includes systems in many other
   parts of the world, all interlinked and operating using the protocols
   of the TCP/IP protocol suite.  The IAB is an independent committee of
   researchers and professionals with a technical interest in the health
   and evolution of the Internet system.  Membership changes with time
   to adjust to the current realities of the research interests of the
   participants, the needs of the Internet system and the concerns of
   the U.S. Government, university and industrial sponsors of the
   elements of the Internet.



Cerf