- The Queen Elizabeth Prize was created last year in a bid to boost engineering's profile and give greater recognition to the revolutionary impact it has on people's lives.
- Robert Kahn, Vinton Cerf and Marc Andreessen of the United States will share the first-ever prize with Louis Pouzin of France and Tim Berners-Lee of Britain.
- Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, who gives her name to the prize, will present the award to the winners in a formal ceremony in London in June.
Gates Lobbied for Internet Pioneers
Microsoft founder Bill Gates was among those who pushed for the inaugural prize to be granted to Internet pioneers.
"It would be difficult to point to any significant human endeavour that has not been touched profoundly through the invention and deployment of the Internet," he said.
"We are living today in only the beginning of the transformations that will come through this enabling technology."
Around a third of the world's population uses the Internet today, according to U.N. figures.
The Queen Elizabeth Prize was created last year in a bid to boost the industry's profile and give greater recognition to the revolutionary impact it has on people's lives.
"Engineers are often the unsung heroes whose innovations have made phenomenal contributions to society," said the award's director Anji Hunter.
"We need more skilled engineers to solve the world's most pressing problems, which requires not only excellent education and inspirational role models, but more attention focused on highlighting the wonders of modern engineering, wherever they may be," she added.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
