Celebrating women in technology: Ada Lovelace Day

I have just signed up to the Ada Lovelace Day pledge: on March 24, I pledge to write a blog post about a woman in technology. The concept is simple: get as many people as possible to blog about a woman they admire who works in technology; the more, the merrier. The idea was hatched by social media persona extraordinaire Suw Charman, a rather groovy lady in technology herself (I hope someone writes about Suw!). Suw's original goal was to get 1,000 people to pledge, but the figure exceeded that goal within a mere 7 days, and currently sits at 1,275. Why don't you pop over and sign up to make it 1,276? You see, Ada Lovelace was an extraordinary woman who wrote the world's first computer programme way back in the 1830s, and she also predicted uses for computers thateven Charles Babbage himself couldn't foresee. Sadly, she died at age 36 and never had the chance to fully explore the possibilities of these new machines. Ada Lovelace Day is our chance to celebrate the legacy she left for all of us.

I already know who I want to blog about, and she is a woman who changed my life, despite my never having met her. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you who she is just yet... you'll have to wait til 24 March to find out who my ultimate inspiration and mentor is! In the meantime, think about the female sysadmin, programmer, developer, engineer, help desk assistant or any other women you know who work in technology, and I hope you will join the pledge, too. You can also chip in with other stuff, or just follow findingada on Twitter to stay abreast of what's happening.