It's hard to tell how much of the internet protocol suite could be said to be prepared ahead of time. There was a decades-long practical experimentation process during which several iterations were developed and in use in research settings, and this was coincident in time with many other implementations of networking protocols that powered what was done in the "real world" in commercial settings.

Now I'll grant it's possible that the IP suite was developed as an isolated set of standards divorced from those outside networking practices, but the timeline makes me feel like it's at least possible that there was some lesson-learning incorporated.

Of course, I wasn't involved and I don't know offhand. I'll have to do a bit of reading later for self-edification.