An independent agency of the United States government formed in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense, according to the NSF..." T he mission of the NSF includes support for all fields of fundamental science and engineering. In telecommunications, the NSF has taken the initiative projects such as the development of the very-high-speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS), which formed the initial backbone infrastructure for Internet2. See also Internet2 and vBNS.