Women in IT celebrate Ada Lovelace Day

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was one of the first computer programmers

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of women in technology that centres around the use of blogs.

Launched by Suw Charman-Anderson, a freelance software consultant, Ada Lovelace Day is a day of blogging designed to draw attention to women who are "excelling in technology".

Lovelace was born in 1815, and is recognised as one of the first computer programmers. She wrote programs for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, along with the very first description of a computer and software.

Interested parties were asked to sign up to the Ada Lovelace Day Pledge: "I will publish a blog post on Tuesday 24 March about a woman in technology whom I admire, but only if 1,000 other people will do the same."

The list has already clocked up over 1,600 participants. However, under 400 posts are currently live.

"Women's contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines," wrote Charman-Anderson launching the event.

"Whatever she does, whether she is a sysadmin or a tech entrepreneur, a programmer or a designer, developing software or hardware, a tech journalist or a tech consultant, we want to celebrate her achievements."

Any woman who creates, invents, or uses any technology in an innovative way is asked to participate.