BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, today launched five short films that highlight the achievements of the often forgotten and unacknowledged Information Pioneers.The five pioneers, Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing, Sir Clive Sinclair, Hedy Lamarr and Sir Tim Berners-Lee were chosen from a list of 150 IT Greats who span the globe. A celebrity advocate endorses each pioneer. The list of 150 IT Greats, along with the five short films, can be viewed on the Information Pioneers site (http://pioneers.bcs.org) The Institute commissioned Lewis Georgeson, the Emmy-nominated and multi-award winning director of short form digital programmes, to direct the series.
Elizabeth Sparrow, President, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT said:
“We want to celebrate the achievements of these Information Pioneers and demonstrate their contribution to today’s Information Society. Everyone should visit the Information Pioneer campaign website and join in the debate on who should be the greatest Information Pioneer of all time, vote for their favourite pioneer and share their favourite film with their friends and colleagues.”
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.
The films will go live today on the pioneers site (http://pioneers.bcs.org) and on MSN.co.uk. Visitors are encouraged to vote for their favourite Information Pioneer, share the videos and join the discussion about the other pioneers on the website.
Regular updates and commentary are available on Twitter @infopioneers.
The campaign can also be found on Facebook.
