March 24th is Ada Lovelace Day, intended to encourage blogging about women in technology, the visibility of women in technology and encourage beyond the stereotypes. Whilst I have been taught to be rather skeptical about the actual contributions of Ada Lovelace, due to a friend with a PhD in the subject who is a very keen historian of mathematical history, I still like to recognise the day in spirit.
By the way – great Guardian article about the day:
Today is Ada Lovelace Day. This is a truly magnificent enterprise, organised by Suw Charman-Anderson, in which more than 1,000 people have signed up to write a blog post about a woman in technology whom they admire. Suw was inspired to found Ada Lovelace Day after hearing female friends in technology say that they felt disempowered and invisible.
Having married a computer scientist and with several great friends in the field (who just happen to be 
women), I see the profession as not only important, but vital to our future. Such a view was shared by Dr Anita Borg.
Dr Anita Borg believed that technology affects all aspects of our economic, political, social and personal lives. A technology rebel with a cause, in her life she fought tirelessly to ensure that technology’s impact would be a positive one. It was this vision that inspired Anita in 1997 to found the Institute for Women and Technology. Today this organization continues on her legacy and bears her name, The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (www.anitaborg.org).
Dr Anita Borg’s work included creating the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing and (rather apt considering this day) received the Augusta Ada Lovelace Award from the Association for Women in Computing for her work on behalf of women in the computing field in 1995.
What is particularly inspirational is how her work continues on, to help women in my country:
As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to furthering Anita’s vision, we are pleased to announce the 2009 Google Australia and New Zealand Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship. Through the scholarship, we aim to encourage women to excel in computing and technology, and become active role models and leaders.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Dr Anita *Borg*? Tell me that’s a coincidence!
I sincerely hope you pass on some of the links to women you know in Australia who need a scholarship, A.
I named my computer Borg after Anita Borg. (I imagine Star Trek was giving a nod to her too with their Borg race.)
Educating women is one of the most important tasks on this planet.
I hadn’t signed the pledge page, but I did write a post aboutAngela Belcher from MIT. She is doing some very cool stuff in microbiology – designing spray-on batteries!
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