Today is Ada Lovelace day. Ada Lovelace Day aims to raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by encouraging people around the world to talk about the women whose work they admire. This international day of celebration helps people learn about the achievements of women in these areas, inspiring others and creating new role models for young and old alike.
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace was born in 1815 as Augusta Ada Byron and is now commonly known as Ada Lovelace. She was an English mathematician and writer mainly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine.
Her notes on the engine include what is recognized as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine; because of this, many consider her to be the first ever computer programmer.
Blogs on Ada Lovelace day are meant to highlight a female leader the reader can learn more about, but I'd like to point out a recent article in Computer Weekly that analysed several influential female technology leaders in the UK because there is a surprisingly strong field of female tech leaders in the UK.
BG Group, Facebook Europe, the Metropolitan police, Royal Mail, Thomson Reuters, Network Rail, Alcatel Lucent, Shell, the Post Office, BT Global Services... these are all familiar corporate names to most people in Britain.
A woman runs the technology - or has the main CEO role - in all these organisations. That's quite an achievement, but even with all these great brands there are still not enough female role models exploring a career in technology, science, or engineering.
Do take a moment on this Ada Lovelace day to get to know some of the present day female technology leaders. And why not write your own blog and contribute to the debate - there is still time!