VINTON CERF, HOLDER OF AN HONORARY DEGREE FROM RAMON LLULL UNIVERSITY AT THE REQUEST OF LA SALLE, RECEIVES THE XXX INTERNATIONAL CATALONIA PRIZE

The award ceremony at the Palace of the Catalan Government was attended by representatives of the University including the rector of URL, Josep Maria Garrell; the general director of La Salle-URL, Josep M. Santos; and Andreu Veà, Digital Champion for Spain (European Commission). The American technology expert, considered one of the fathers of the Internet, is vice president of Google and chaired the body that authorised the .cat domain, present in over 90 states

Vinton Cerf, the technology expert considered one of the fathers of the Internet and who was awarded an honorary doctorate from URL in 2016 after being proposed for said honour by La Salle-URL, has received the XXX International Catalonia Prize from the President of the Government of Catalonia, Quim Torra. His candidacy was sponsored by URL, Rovira i Virgili University and the Puntcat Foundation.

This Prize is awarded annually to those who have made a decisive contribution to the development of cultural, scientific or human values in the world. Of the 109 entries from 50 countries received this year, the jury has decided to award the prize to Vinton Cerf, the first technology expert to win the International Catalonia Prize, “for his contribution, in technological, cultural and social terms, to the development of the Internet as the basic infrastructure of our society, always ensuring that it is a network open to all”.

In the words of Andreu Veà, Cerf’s sponsor at the URL honorary ceremony, “it is surprising that this tech pioneer has dedicated himself to working on and solving problems that most of our peers would not even have thought to tackle”. Likewise, in the words of the rector of URL, Josep Maria Garrell: “When we see visionaries in his field like him continue to reflect on the evolution and revolution of technologies, that’s when we know we can rest assured we are in safe hands and that the future will lead us towards a society educated in new technologies that places the person, and therefore humanism, at the heart of its development.

During the award ceremony, President of Catalonia Quim Torra reminded the audience that the prizewinner had presided over the body that authorised the .cat domain in 2005, and that in doing so “he acted in a spirit of impartiality and professionalism, free from outside influences, which ended up being decisive in achieving the first non-State cultural and linguistic domain on the Internet”.

During his speech, Torra highlighted the “human quality, social dedication and values of Vinton Cerf”; by way of an example of these values, he shared the fact that the award winner would be donating a quarter of the prize to the TV3 La Marató Foundation and Catalunya Ràdio.

He also reminded attendees that the winner of the Prize had donated 20,000 euros to the Puntcat (.cat) Foundation, “money that has been used to create the Vinton Cerf Distinction to recognise and promote research activities related to the development of the Internet and digital innovation in Catalan-speaking territories”. The award winner has also announced that he has donated a further 20,000 euros to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC in order to, among other things, finance the translation into Catalan of this writer’s works.

In 1989, the Government of Catalonia created the International Catalonia Prize with three clear aims: to recognise and stimulate creators, to offer the Catalan people examples of the highest quality and standards in all aspects, and to seal Catalonia’s place on the scene of major international awards. Vinton Cerf, as President Quim Torra has pointed out, “has been decisive in the digital revolution, just as James Watt from Scotland was in his day, with the first steam engine, which led to the first industrial revolution”. The Head of the Catalan Government added that the work carried out by the winner throughout his career “has had an absolute impact on our lives, our society, and our world, especially in recent years with the technological explosion and its impact on daily life.

In addition to the president and the prizewinner, Manel Sanromà, professor of applied mathematics at Rovira i Virgili University, head of its IT department and one of the driving forces behind Vinton Cerf’s candidacy for this award, also spoke at the award ceremony. Also present were several Catalan ministers, including the Minister of the President, Mertixell Budó; Minister for External Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency, Alfred Bosch; Minister for Digital Policies and Public Administration, Jordi Puigneró, and the Justice Minister, Ester Capella, as well as the president delegate of the PIC, Xavier Rubert de Ventós. Ramon Llull University was represented by the rector of URL, Josep Maria Garrell; the general dircetor of La Salle-URL Josep M. Santos; and Andreu Veà, Digital Champion for Spain (European Commission).