The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet-related standards, education, access, and policy. Its mission is "to promote the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world". The Internet Society has its global headquarters in Reston, Virginia, United States (near Washington, D.C.), a major office in Geneva, Switzerland, and regional bureaus in Brussels, Singapore, and Montevideo. It has a global membership base of more than 100,000 organizational and individual members.

The Internet Society was formed officially in 1992 by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn with one of its purposes being to provide a corporate structure to support the Internet standards development process. Cerf, Kahn, and Lyman Chapin released a document, Announcing ISOC, which explained the rationale for establishing the Internet Society. This document also defines the original charter of the organization as follows:

The Society will be a non-profit organization and will be operated for international educational, charitable, and scientific purposes, among which are:

* To facilitate and support the technical evolution of the Internet as a research and education infrastructure and to stimulate involvement of the academic, scientific, and engineering communities (among others) in the evolution of the Internet.

* To educate the academic and scientific communities and the public concerning the technology, use, and application of the Internet.

* To promote scientific and educational applications of Internet technology for the benefit of educational institutions at all grade levels, industry, and the public at large.

* To provide a forum for exploration of new Internet applications and to foster collaboration among organizations in their operation and use of the Internet

We envision a future in which people in all parts of the world can use the Internet to improve their quality of life, because standards, technologies, business practices, and government policies sustain an open and universally accessible platform for innovation, creativity, and economic opportunity.

The Internet Society has a prominent function in Internet governance discussions, including significant involvement in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

The Internet Society works with countries and community partners to support network development, interconnection, and Internet traffic exchange, as well as training individuals who can build and maintain the Internet infrastructure in their regions.

Under the category of education, the Internet Society pursues its goals by coordinating and delivering hands-on technical training, seminars and conferences on topical Internet issues; supporting local and regional Internet organisations; issuing briefings and white papers on Internet technologies; and funding participation opportunities for Internet experts in developing countries.

The Internet Society also encourages innovation and fresh thinking by providing grants and rewards to relevant initiatives and outreach efforts that address the humanitarian, educational and societal contexts of online connectivity.

The Internet Society is the parent company for the Public Interest Registry, which manages the .ORG top-level domain.

ISOC has joint offices in Reston, Virginia, United States and Geneva, Switzerland. It has also established "Regional Bureaus" for Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, North America and Europe.

The Internet Society helped organize World IPv6 Day, which gathered companies such as Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Akamai Technologies and Limelight Networks as well as ISPs to raise awareness of IPv6 issues such as fragmentation.

Thanking You

Dr. Md. Nadir Bin Ali

President, Internet Society Bangladesh Chapter

Registrar, Daffodil International University