I think such a discussion should include Paul Baran and David Davies who independently devised the concept of packet switching - which is fundamental to the operation of the internet.

Wiki: "In the early 1960s, American computer scientist Paul Baran developed the concept Distributed Adaptive Message Block Switching, with the goal to provide a fault-tolerant, efficient routing method for telecommunication messages as part of a research program at the RAND Corporation, funded by the US Department of Defense. This concept contradicted then-established principles of pre-allocation of network bandwidth, exemplified by the development of telecommunications in the Bell System. The new concept found little resonance among network implementers until the independent work of British computer scientist Donald Davies at the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) in 1965. Davies is credited with coining the modern term packet switching and inspiring numerous packet switching networks in the decade following, including the incorporation of the concept into the design of the ARPANET in the United States."