WebProNews

Founding father of the Internet Vint Cerf  and Google's "Chief Internet Evangelist" gave today's keynote at SMX West covering a range of topics.

(Coverage of SMX West continues at WebProNews Videos.  Keep an eye on WebProNews for more notes and videos from the event this week.)

Vint Cerf

Cerf spoke about ARPnet and how people found ways to use new capabilities. "Look how quickly email came along with the ARPnet," Cerf said. He is amazed everyday with what people do with the Web.

" It's the sharing of information that's power."

He said he suggested his title for Google be "archduke" but Google choose evangelist because not all people are persuaded on the Internet. A lot of his time is spent on international policies related to the Internet such as deciding legal structures and figuring out how to make ecommerce work.

The problem with cloud computing is how do you send information from cloud-to cloud? There needs to be new structures to find solutions.

In the search arena Cerf says we don't know how to search video and images very well. Google does not know user's questions and needs to understand semantics better.

He suggests giving YouTube users control over the ads they see. The creative part of advertising is still there, but in the user controlled generation, it might not take as much to get their attention.

On mobile he says it is an "information window that you can carry around with you." It allows people to get information in real-time. "More and more people will have that opportunity with mobile devices. Mobile will allow a type of transparency that the world has never known before."

Mobile integration raises privacy concerns. "Google is very concerned with privacy... very aware of the need to keep data secure."

There's a need for privacy but with limitations.  For example you have a medical condition and you're in a different city and want the doctors to have access to records but you don't want them to have it forever.

"People need to be able to move information from place to place but retain control. We live in a world where privacy is very hard to come by."

Cerf says we need to obtain privacy for users but protect if from society. "I think we need regulation to keep markets open. Regulation is only as good as its ability to be enforced."

He talks about an interplanetary network and how Google uploaded protocols to the international space station. By this time next year there will be a 3-node protocol in space.

He says Google will always be focused on information, getting it to the user and storing it. He stresses that we need to be able to preserve history, and fears losing it.

 WebProNews anchor Abby Johnson contributed to this report.