What Is Internet Engineering?
Internet Engineering is not a widely used term. This is because the skills employed to create the Internet involve a wide range of disciplines. The Internet is constructed by telecommunication engineers, electrical engineers, electronics, network technicians, computer programmers, systems analysts, philosophers, politicians and theorists. This situation is changing, however. People tend to define their field of work by the degree they studied, or the professional institution to which they belong. Universities are now teaching Internet Engineering courses. This is the first step in making the field of Internet Engineering a distinct discipline.
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Institutions
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Established professions have industry bodies, or institutions to which practitioners have to belong to qualify for specific responsibilities. Each professional body guards entry into the profession and grades levels of competence, which often require examinations to progress in seniority through grades of membership. Job requirements are tied to membership of that profession's institute and grade attainment. These requirements are enforced by law and insurance coverage. For example, these conditions apply to architects, mechanical engineers, civil engineers structural engineers. Until a professional body enforces the boundaries of Internet Engineering, it is unlikely that the term will come into common usage.
Standards Bodies
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The most frequently encountered use of the term Internet Engineering is found in the name of the Internet Engineering Task Force. The IETF is a standards body for Internet-related protocols. However, it has never established exclusive rights to the field. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers also has domain over aspects of Internet development and so does the International Telecommunication Union. National bodies such as the U.S. Federal Communication Commission also have extensive input into the field, which weakens the identity of Internet Engineering as a definable specialization.
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Universities
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A number of university courses are offering courses in Internet Engineering. However, these are mostly post-graduate course and applicants are expected to have already qualified in one of the traditional disciplines that contribute to the creation and advancement of the Internet.
Networks
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The greatest hindrance to the emergence of Internet Engineering is its reliance on the skills of pre-existing engineering disciplines. The Internet is a very technical field, but it's boundaries are not scientifically precise. The concept of “networks” has been around longer than the Internet, and yet there is little reference to Network Engineering. The Internet is a Wide Area Network and so Internet Engineering is an extension of Network Engineering, which is term that is almost never used.
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References
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