Architecture and Innovation

Architecture does more than describe the system as it is. It also establishes incentives, cost structures, organizational patterns and a marketplace for ideas upon which various players will innovate. One of the reasons the Web has been so successful is because it does this in a way that encourages a wide participation from varied players due to the nature of the architecture upon which it is built: The Internet.

This talk will walk through the design of the Internet Architecture and how it yields the flexibility to innovate to a wide collection of players including VC-backed internet startups, college students working out their room and companies targeting specific types of customers. The choices that have been (and will be) made have enormous implications on how the Internet and Web can be used and evolve and who controls them.

Come think deeply about one of the most important software architectural designs that has ever been designed and why we must protect it.