BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, today announced that the public has just one more week to vote for their favourite Information Pioneer on the Information Pioneers campaign site http://pioneers.bcs.org. Those who haven’t yet seen the five short films that highlight the achievements of the often forgotten and unacknowledged Information Pioneers should visit the site before voting closes on 30 June.
At the moment Alan Turing is leading the way to be crowned the ultimate Information Pioneer, and Andy Stanford-Clark is currently in poll position in the list of 150 ‘IT Greats’, which also closes for votes on 30 June.
You can take a look at the current leader, Alan Turing’s video below;
Information Pioneers: Alan Turing from Information Pioneers on Vimeo.
Elizabeth Sparrow, President, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT said:
“We’ve been delighted with the public response to the campaign. The videos have been embedded across multiple locations and we have had thousands of votes on both the list of 150 ‘IT Greats’ and the five films. Anyone who hasn’t seen the films or registered their vote should visit the site before voting ends on 30 June or miss out!”
The five short films star:
Ortis Deley from The Gadget Show presents the achievements of Lord Byron’s daughter, Ada Lovelace, who has been regarded as the first computer programmer.
BBC Click reporter Kate Russell celebrates Alan Turing, the father of artificial intelligence and the man who created a machine to crack the Enigma Code during the Second World War.
British actress Miranda Raison tells us about Hollywood A-list star Hedy Lamarr who apart from her successful acting career also co-invented an early technique for spread spectrum communications, making the use of mobile phone communications possible today.
Phil Tufnell, ex-England cricketer, represents Sir Clive Sinclair the father of gaming who brought computers into the home and made them affordable to the masses at £99.95 each in 1979 with the ZX80. In 1982 the iconic ZX Spectrum was launched complete with sound and eight colours, which marked the birth of the UK gaming industry.
Finally, British comedian, actor and author Dom Joly acts as the advocate for Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web. Sir Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea of linking all documents together in one place when he was suffering from information overload.
To keep posted on who is named the ultimate Information Pioneer of all time and who makes it to first place on the list of the 150 ‘IT Greats’, you can follow the campaign on Twitter @infopioneers and on Facebook. The winners will also be announced on http://pioneers.bcs.org.
About BCS Pioneers
BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, is sharing the stories of five Information Pioneers who truly enabled the information society. Videos coming soon!
