LOS ANGELES, April 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The USC Stevens Institute for Innovation is pleased to announce the release of Aram Sinnreich's TEDxUSC talk, launching a worldwide effort to create the next generation version of the internet – MondoNet (www.mondonet.org).

Sinnreich envisions a new internet that uses mesh networking to produce a stable, ad hoc, global wireless network in which each user is a router, server and client combined, and in which no single state or organization can effectively censor or surveil the population on a broad scale.

"Although the Internet is highly decentralized in its social patterns, its technical and regulatory foundations are extremely hierarchical," explains Sinnreich, an assistant professor at Rutgers University's School of Communication and Information who earned a doctorate from the USC Annenberg School in 2007. "We are going to create a new communications platform based on existing Internet protocols, but with a decentralized infrastructure free of the bottlenecks that plague the current system."

TEDxUSC is the ideal place for new ideas and discoveries to catch wind so we are honored to play host to the launch of such an innovative initiative," Said Krisztina "Z" Holly, Vice Provost for Innovation at USC, Executive Director of the USC Stevens Institute for innovation and the curator for TEDxUSC. "MondoNet is truly an idea worth spreading."

To watch the worldwide online premiere of Aram Sinnreich's TEDxUSC 2011 talk and the official launch of MondoNet click here: http://stevens.usc.edu/Aram_Sinnreich__The_Next_Generation_Internet.flv.

To date, Sinnreich and his team have developed a set of "social specifications" describing the functionalities required of MondoNet, and are in the process of mapping these specifications to open technological platforms. Their present aim is to develop a fully open, global development process akin to the collaborative environments surrounding Linux and Wikimedia.

"Aram's work is quite original—he's pushing at the boundaries of digital communication, said Jorge Reina Schement, Dean of the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers.  "He opens conceptual doors and reflects the innovative thinking we see in our faculty."

To read a draft version of the full MondoNet initiative please click here: http://www.mondonet.org/MondoNetNCApaper_draft.pdf.

A full account of the MondoNet initiative will be published in a scholarly journal, The Information Society, in July.

About the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation

The USC Stevens Institute for Innovation (http://stevens.usc.edu) is a university-wide resource in the Office of the Provost at the University of Southern California that helps identify, nurture, protect, and transfer to the market the most exciting innovations from USC.  It also provides a central connection for industry seeking cutting-edge innovations in which to invest. As part of this role, the USC Stevens Institute manages the university's intellectual property portfolio stemming from its $560M annual research program. Furthermore, the USC Stevens Institute develops the innovator as well as innovations, through educational programs, community-building events, and showcase opportunities.

Contact:
Ian Murphy
310-689-6397
ian@stevens.usc.edu

SOURCE USC Stevens Institute for Innovation