Louis Pouzin’s CYCLADES Network

The 2015 Lovie Lifetime Achievement Award went to French computer scientist Louis Pouzin, in celebration and recognition of his groundbreaking work in creating the computer network known as CYCLADES, which greatly influenced the future development of TCP/IP protocol. Pouzin’s incredible creation has rightfully given him a place amongst the history of the Internet.

With the simplicity that CYCLADES brought so early on to packet transfer and receipt, Pouzin thus defined one of the key cornerstones of the Internet’s design, and it is one that still holds today. CYCLADES is one of the greatest technical influences on the Internet, borne from Pouzin’s core belief that the Internet should not become fossilised, but should continue to evolve and grow. He demonstrates a lifelong vision of openness and technical elegance that still powers the Internet as we know it today.