National Science Foundation Network

The National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) was a program initiated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States in the mid-1980s to promote and support advanced research and education in science and engineering through the development of a national backbone network. NSFNET served as a crucial infrastructure for the burgeoning internet, allowing academic and research institutions to connect with one another. Originally, NSFNET began as a way to link supercomputing centers to researchers across the country.