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DR BRADFORD PARKINSON TO RECEIVE THE 2016 MARCONI PRIZE Dr. Bradford Parkinson, a Stanford professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, will receive the 2016 Marconi Prize, a pinnacle honour in the field of information and communication science. This was reported by the Marconi Society in recent weeks. The $100,000 prize, given annually, recognizes major advances in the field which benefit humanity. Parkinson’s contributions to the development of GPS helped create a vast global utility that provides positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) information to the world and is a vital part of today’s global information infrastructure. GPS has been transformative in virtually every aspect of how people work and live, and in their use of time and spatial information. But its development was very nearly derailed and the (US) Air Force would have abandoned its development had they not been forced to fund it. Despite their opposition, they ended up selecting someone to lead the project who was uniquely qualified to make it a success. A valuable paper regarding all aspects of the research of and adoption of GPS is to be found on the Marconi Society’s website at: http://marconisociety.org/stanford-professor-bradford-parkinson-father-of-gps- to-receive-the-2016-marconi-prize/ At the 14th IAIN Congress held in Cairo in October 2012 IAIN President, Dr Refaat Rashad, presented the IAIN Necho Award for A Special Achievement to Professor Bradford Parkinson, the Father of GPS. Said Marconi Society Vice Chairman Vint Cerf: ‘Today, there are billions of GPS receivers in the world. GPS is one of the most under-rated advances in the history of information science. It is taken for granted, but Parkinson was on the ground floor of enabling air, space and terrestrial guidance and navigation with GPS. His vision for the use of timing signals resulted in cellular telephone improvements, better Internet traffic control, power grid management and a myriad of important financial applications. Dr. Parkinson’s achievements have been game-changing.’ It is understood that Parkinson will receive the Marconi Prize at a private ceremony at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, on 2 November 2016. 1 About the Marconi Society The Marconi Society was established in 1974 through an endowment set up by Gioia Marconi Braga, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, the Nobel laureate who invented radio (wireless telegraphy). It is best known for the Marconi Prize, awarded annually to an outstanding individual(s) whose scope of work and influence emulate the principle of ‘creativity in service to humanity’ that inspired Marconi. Through symposia, conferences, forums and publications, the Marconi Society promotes awareness of major innovations in communication theory, technology and applications with particular attention to understanding how they change and benefit society. Picture caption At the 14th IAIN Congress held in Cairo in October 2012 IAIN President, Dr Refaat Rashad, presented the IAIN Necho Award for A Special Achievement to Professor Bradford Parkinson, the Father of GPS. 2.

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