Prestigious Jonathan B. Postel Service Award Presented to Onno W. Purbo

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The Internet Society presented the prestigious Jonathan B. Postel Service Award to Onno W. Purbo for his sustained and substantial technical contributions, leadership, and service to the global Internet community. Known as “Indonesia’s Internet Liberator,” Purbo is a prolific and well-published Internet advocate who has played a key role in democratizing Internet access, making it more affordable especially in Indonesia’s rural areas. Purbo is best known for pioneering the Internet in Indonesia through sophisticated use of wireless and Voice over Internet Protocol technologies. He led the first Internet connection at the Institute of Technology in Bandung and used it to build the first Indonesian educational network. He also championed the deregulation of WiFi frequencies and introduced cyber cafes, neighborhood networks, and community cellular networks to Indonesia. Mr. Purbo organized the first community telephony network over Internet and led the re-introduction of ICT into the Indonesian high school curriculum. Currently, he is involved in largest Indonesian FREE e-Learning service, which has brought more than 700 courses to nearly 40,000 participants and trained more than 8,000 teachers on e-learning operations.


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