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AwardsItojun Service AwardLorenzo Colitti and Erik Kline of Google receive initial Itojun Service AwardThe first Itojun Service Award was presented on 10 November 2009 at the 76th 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. Jun Murai of the Itojun Service Award committee and Director of the WIDE Project said, "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." 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 honor his vision, dedication, and passion." About the AwardEach year, starting in 2009, the Internet Society will present the Itojun Service Award to an individual or a group who has made outstanding contributions in service to the IPv6 community and this year the deadline for nominations is 13 July 2009. The first award will be made at the 76th meeting of the IETF to be held in November 2009 in Hiroshima, Japan. 
The Itojun Service Award was established by the friends of Itojun and administered by the Internet Society (ISOC), recognises and commemorates the extraordinary dedication exercised by Itojun over the course of IPv6 development. The award includes a presentation crystal, a US$3,000 honorarium, and a travel grant. The award is focused on pragmatic technical contributions, especially through development or operation, with the spirit of servicing the Internet. With respect to the spirit, the selection committee seeks contributors to the Internet as a whole; open source developers are a common example of such contributors, although this is not a requirement for expected nominees. While the committee primarily considers practical contributions such as software development or network operation, higher level efforts that help those direct contributions will also be appreciated in this regard. The contribution should be substantial, but could be at an immature stage or be ongoing; this award aims to encourage the contributor to continue their efforts, rather than just recognizing well established work. Finally, contributions of a group of individuals will be accepted, as deployment work is often done by a large project, not just a single outstanding individual. The award is named after Dr. Jun-ichiro "Itojun" Hagino, who passed away in 2007, aged just 37. Itojun worked as a Senior Researcher at Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ), was a member of the board of the Widely Integrated Distributed Environment (WIDE) project, and from 1998 to 2006 served on the groundbreaking KAME project in Japan as the "IPv6 samurai". He was also a member of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) from 2003 to 2005. For more information, please contact itojun-award@isoc.org Inaugural Itojun award to Lorenzo Colitti and Erik KlineThe first Itojun Service Award was presented to Lorenzo Colitti and Erik Kline of Google for their outstanding contributions to the development and deployment of IPv6, the next generation Internet protocol.
Accepting the award, Erik Kline 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 honor his vision, dedication, and passion. There are many people at Google without whom the IPv6 work to date would not have been possible. But there are many more people not at Google without whom this work would have been utterly inconceivable. I think itojun is chief among them in many ways. I deeply regret not having had the opportunity to ask for his opinion and insights in person but I hope nonetheless that (somewhere) he approves. |
