‘Father’ of European internet retires

16 September 2004

AMSTERDAM — After 38 years with the Dutch centre for science and information (CWI), the man acknowledged as the founding father of the internet in Europe retired on Thursday.

The CWI in Amsterdam marked the occasion by hosting a conference in Dutch entitled: Networking in the Netherlands, Piet Beertema from pioneer to “guru”.

Beertema is seen as the founder of the modern internet in Europe. He was the first person on the continent 16 years ago to receive an email from the other side of the world. This email was sent by American Rick Adam, the pioneer known as the godfather of the open internet.

Adams developed UUnet, one of the oldest and largest commercial internet providers in the world. He has earned millions for UUnet.

Working from their respective offices, Beertema and Adams made the first transatlantic internet connection.

Adams, who leads a quiet life on his ranch, came to Amsterdam for Beertema’s farewell.

Employed with CWI since 1966, Beertema has worked as a systems programmer, systems manager and network manager.

Beertema ensured the .nl domain was registered and managed it from his office at the centre. He also helped other European countries to register their national domain identifier.

[Copyright Novum Nieuws 2004]

Subject: Dutch news