The Information Processing Techniques Office.docx
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The Information Processing Techniques Office.docx
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TheInformationProcessingTechniquesOffice
TheInformationProcessingTechniquesOffice
andtheBirthoftheInternet
AStudyinGovernance
byRondaHauben
rh120@columbia.edu
DraftforComment
"Oncloserinvestigationwefoundthatthereisindeedacertain
underlyingsimilaritybetweenthegoverningorself-governingof
shipsormachinesandthegoverningofhumanorganizations."
KarlDeutsch,NervesofGovernment
Theimportanceoffeedbackliesinthefactthatsystemswhichpossessithavecertainproperties....Systemswithfeedbackcannotadequatelybetreatedasiftheywereofone-wayactionforthefeedbackintroducespropertieswhichcanbeexplainedonlybyreferencetothepropertiesoftheparticularfeedback.
W.RossAshby,DesignforaBrain
Thenature,degreeandpolarityofthefeedbackhasadecisiveeffectonthestabilityorinstabilityofasystem.
W.RossAshby,Ibid.
ABSTRACT
Inboth"Man-ComputerSymbiosis"(1960)byJCRLicklider,and
"On-LineMan-ComputerCommunication"(1962)byLickliderandWendenE.Clark,thereisthenotionofthecapabilityofthehumanmindtodoaspectsofproblemsolvinganddecisionmakingthatwerenotthen,andarenotyetwithinthecapabilityofthecomputer.In"Man-ComputerSymbiosis",Licklidercharacterizesthehumanasgoalseeking.InhispaperwithClark,theyrefertotheneedfor"atighton-linecouplingbetweenhumanbrainsandelectroniccomputers."Theirobjectiveisto"amalgamatethepredominantlyhumancapabilitiesandthepredominantlycomputercapabilitiestocreateanintegratedsystemforgoal-orientedon-line-inventiveinformationprocessing."UnderstandingwhyandhowLickliderandthenLickliderandClarkusetermslike“goalseeking”or“goal-oriented”iscrucialtoanyunderstandingofthenatureofthecomputerandnetworkingdevelopmentsthatLickliderinitiatedduringhisleadershipoftheInformationProcessingTechniquesOfficeatARPA.
In1962LickliderwasinvitedtoARPAtocreatetheInformationProcessingTechniquesOffice(IPTO).Describingthe(IPTO)inastudydonebytheNationalResearchCounciloftheNationalAcademyofScience,theauthorsofthestudywrite:
Theentiresystemdisplayedsomethingofaself-organizing,
self-managingsystem.
ThispaperwillexplorehowIPTOdisplayedsomethingofa"self-organizing"and"self-managing"nature.Itwillexaminethe
connectionbetweenthisdescriptionofIPTOandtheconceptsof“feedback”and“servo-mechanisms”thatwerebeingstudiedintheearlypostWWIIperiodbytheresearchcommunitiesthatLickliderwasconnectedwithbeforehejoinedARPAtocreatetheIPTO.Byexaminingthisconnection,abasiswillbesettounderstandthecontextbothofLicklider’searlywritingandofthefoundationhesetforthecreationanddevelopmentofIPTOasthebirthplacethatmadepossiblethedevelopmentoftheInternet.
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I-WHAT'SPASTASPROLOGUE
Letusrecallthatourword'government'comesfromaGreek
rootthatreferstotheartofthesteersman.
Thesameunderlyingconceptisreflectedinthedouble
meaningofthemodernword'governor'asapersoncharged
withtheadministrativecontrolofapoliticalunit,andas
amechanicaldevicecontrollingtheperformanceofasteam
engineoranautomobile.
KarlDeutch,NervesofGovernment
pg182
Thesystemisatonceastore,aprocessor,atransmitterofinformation:
thecentralnervoussystemofthecommunity(unlikethecentralnervoussystemknowninbiology,however,theinformationsystemofthelocaluniversitycommunityisanodeinalargernetworkthatservesthecomplexofcommunitiesandorganizationsthatsupporttheintellectuallifeofthesociety.)
F.J.CarlOverhageandR.JoyceHarmon,"INDREX"
Insteeringaship,informationaboutitscurrentdirection
andenvironmentareusedtokeepitoncourse.Thisprocessrequiresbothskillinutilizinginformationfromitspastperformancetomakeanyneededadjustmentsinitspresentcourseandskillinsettingadirectionforwardtowardtheship'sdestination.Theconceptoffeedbackinvolvesusinginformationfromitspastperformancetowardsettingafuturedirection.Theabilitytoutilizefeedbacktosteertowardafixedorevenachanginggoalisahighordercapabilitywhichisatthecruxoftheabilitytocreatea“self-organizing”or“self-managing”system.TheInformationProcessingTechniquesOffice(IPTO)wascreatedattheAdvancedResearchProjectsAgency(ARPA)intheUSDepartmentofDefense(DOD)in1962andendedin1986.Muchlikeacaptainwiththeabilitytoutilizefeedbacktohelpinthesteeringofaship,theIPTOfunctionedtoutilizeinformationfromitspreviousperformancetoprovidedirectionandgovernanceaspartoftheARPA/IPTOcommunity.
TheIPTOandthecommunityitsupported,havecontributedmanyimportantnewformsofcomputertechnology,suchasinteractivecomputing,interactivegraphics,packetswitchingnetworkingtechnology,protocolslikeTCP/IP,andotherimportantdevelopmentslikeVLSIchiptechnology.ButperhapsoneofthemostoverlookedcontributionswasthecreationoftheadministrativeformwhichcouldprovidetheappropriateformofgovernancefortheARPA/IPTOresearchcommunity.Byexploringthenatureofthisgovernanceitwillbepossibletounderstandhowthisgovernmentofficeanditsacademicresearchcommunitycouldachievesuchoutstandingtechnicaldevelopments.
Animportantaspectwasthedevelopmentanduseofnewmeansof
communicationlikecomputernetworkingwhichmadepossibleemailandmailinglists.Suchmeansofcommunicationhelpedthoseinthecommunitytoidentifydifficultproblemsandtocollaboratetosolvethem.EquallyimportantwastheIPTOprocessofencouragingcollaborativetechnicalresearch.Researcherswereabletodevelopnewformsofcomputingandnetworkingwhichweretestedastheywereusedbytheresearchcommunityitself.Basedonthefeedback,further
developmentwascarriedon.Usingfeedbackasanintegralpartof
theinventionprocesscreatedtheabilitytoadapttoadynamicenvironment.
TheIPTOresearchcommunitywasabletobuildonworkdone
byanearliercommunityofresearchersfromtheearlypost
WWIIperiodwhostudiedinformationprocessinginnaturaland
artificialsystems.Thisearlierinterdisciplinarycommunityof
researchersincludedthosestudyingthebrainanditsinformation
processingstructuresandfunctions,andthosedevelopingand
studyinghowmachinerycanutilizefeedbacktosupportautomatic
controlfunctions.JCRLickliderwasanimportantlinkbetweenthisearliercommunityandtheIPTOcommunity.
Licklider,wasaneurophysiologistwhohadmadepioneering
useofcomputerstodevelopdynamicmodelsofthebrain.AlsoLickliderrecognizedtheadvantagethatcouldbeachievedbycouplingthehumanandthecomputersothattheycouldsolveproblemsthatneithercouldsolveindependently.InMarch1960,Lickliderpublishedanarticledescribingthenatureandbenefitsofahuman-computerpartnership.Buildingontheworkofanearliercommunityofresearchersinbiologicalandmachinesystems,Lickiderproposedtheneedtorecognizetheuniquecapabilityofboththehumanandthecomputerforthepartnershiptobefruitful.Hisarticle"Man-ComputerSymbiosis"includedaprogramforthedevelopmentofcomputertechnologywhichwouldmakeitpossibleforhumanstointeractwithcomputersinways
notpreviouslypossible.
In1962,Dr.JackRuina,headofARPA,invitedLickliderto
createtheInformationProcessingTechniquesOffice.Licklider
createdtheofficeandthenprovidedleadershipforacommunityof
researchersandsetapatternofgovernanceoftheresearch
communitythatwascontinuedbyanumberofthesubsequentdirectors
ofIPTO.Bytheearly1970's,theIPTOresearchenvironment
providedforthebirthplaceandearlynurturingoftheInternet.
Intheirstudy,FundingaRevolution,theNationalResearch
Council(NRC)describetheIPTO.Theywrite(1999,105):
Theentiresystemdisplayedsomethingofaself-organizing,
self-managingnature.`
TheNRCstudydoesnotexplainthemechanismsoftheself-organizing,self-managingnatureofIPTO.Thereisaneedtoexplorethesemechanisms.IPTOnotonlymadeanimportantcontributiontothecomputertechnologyusedtoday,butitalsoprovidesthebasistounderstandhowsuchaninstitution,howsuchaself-organizing,self-managingorganizationalformcouldbecreatedinsideoftheU.S.government.ThecreationanddevelopmentoftheInternetisoneoftheimportantachievementsmadepossiblebythemethodofgovernmentinstitution.
II-INTRODUCTION
Theresearchforthispaperbeganwiththequestionofwhathas
beenthegovernmentroleinthedevelopmentoftheInternet.Whenbeginningthisresearch,IdidnotrealizethatIwouldcomeuponaninterestinganomaly.Thiswasthatindeedtherehadbeenagovernmentrolebutthisrolewasintimatelytiedupwiththeconceptofgovernance.
TalkingtopeoplenotinvolvedwiththeARPA/IPTOcommunityabouttheroleofgovernmentinthecreationoftheInternet,IwasoftentoldthatallthegovernmenthaddonewastofundInternetresearch.Thattheresearchwasdonebyacademicsatuniversitiesandthattherewasessentiallynogovernmentroleoutsideofgovernmentbeingthe“sugardaddy”foracademicresearchers.
In1997,theU.S.governmentraisedthequestionofhowtoformaninstitutionalformfortheadministration,controlandscalingofthevitalfunctionsoftheInternet'sinfrastructure.Thismadeitevenmoreurgenttoknowtheactualformsofpreviousgovernmentinvolvement.Thequestionwasraised:
Whatkindofinstitutionalarrangeme
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