Scaling Information Infrastructure: The Case of Next Generation IP in Internet

Abstract

An information infrastructure has to scale, and hence change, as it expands. This creates a dilemma. The expansion fuels new patterns of use, which require changes, while on the other hand, the diffusion of and investments in the information infrastructure have a strong, conservative influence-the intertia of the installed base. The changes required to implement the scaling have to be in small steps. An information infrastructure is not ''changed,'' but rather it undergoes transitions. These transitions are highly involved sociotechnical negotiations. This article is based on a case study of the efforts to change the Internet Protocol (IP) in the Internet to facilitate further growth. The revision of IP is the most serious challenge to the continued scaling of the Internet during its nearly 30 years of existence.