The internet emerged as a product of the funding of National Science Foundation Network as well as private funding for other commercial extensions.
Internet . It is a network of networks that consists of private , public , academic , business , and government networks of local to global scope , linked by a broad array of electronic , wireless , and optical networking technologies . The funding of the National Science Foundation Network as a new backbone in the 1980s , as well as private funding for other commercial extensions , led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies , and the merger of many networks . National Science Foundation Network . Initially created to link researchers to the nation 's NSF-funded supercomputing centers , through further public funding and private industry partnerships it developed into a major part of the Internet backbone .