Archives of IT

A white man with short fair hair in a side parting stood holding an early mobile phone, in front of a large tower. There are dishes at the top of the tower, which looks like a large antenna.

Happy 60th Birthday BT tower, inaugurated by British PM Harold Wilson on this day in 1965, the tallest UK building until 1980. Here our Chairman John Carrington, poses for a photo on the roof of his office in Howland Street, 1984. He was the first MD of BT Cellnet.
@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social

@mrcwarwick.bsky.social

A photograph showing the set up of LEO including where the power supply, circuits, store and input and output equipment should be.

🍰 LEO (Lyons Electronic Office) was the first computer used for business, developed by UK firm J. Lyons & Co Ltd, known for tea shops and cakes. They needed to automate their payroll, marking the beginning of computers in business. Photo courtesy of the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick.

Two naked bronze giants atop a building entrance which says 'English Electric'. Each statue holds aloft a creature from the natural world, a lion and an eagle and represent power and speed.

⚡English Electric's London HQ in Aldwych housed two bronze giants, 'Power' and 'Speed,' by Sir Charles Wheeler. Sold to an American bank in 1971, they were returned as 'unacceptable' due to their realism. Now at Eltham College. Photo: Express & Star Newspapers, Wolverhampton Archives. #EYAMonsters

@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social

Young people working in a lab. All are wearing brown coats whilst a man in a white coat at the front shows another man something on a board.

💽 Ferranti was a key UK electrical engineering firm, known for defence electronics, power grids, and the Ferranti Mark 1, the first commercial computer. It had training schools where apprentices wore brown dust-coats. Photo courtesy of Science Museum Group Collection Online. #EYAEducation

two people unpacking large pieces of computer hardware in a warehouse. Behind them a person is driving a forklift truck. All the boxes say 'Digital, Galway, Ireland'.

People working in the warehouse at Digital, Galway Ireland, packaging computer hardware for delivery to customers.
American tech firm Digital (or DEC as it was also known) operated a factory in Galway which ran from 1971-1993.
Image thanks to Digital Galway 💻

Archives of IT Curriculum Overview  - Archives of IT To access the AIT lesson plans click on the individual squares below: Year 1 Year…

See our curriculum overview here archivesit.org.uk/archives-of-...

September is the month of education @exploreyourarchive.bsky.social and what better time to share the *free* teaching resources we have for you to use in the classroom, assembly or home education setting 👨‍🏫
#EYAEducation

A white man with black hair and sideburns, wearing plastic gloves inspects a satellite on a chrome table at chest height. Behind him is a round piece of space equipment.

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting preparing UoSAT-2 for thermal vacuum testing in 1983 🛰️
@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social

Back to school chalked on blackboard next to pot of colourful pencils and pile of notebooks

📢🎓Primary teachers!

👀 Check out our primary Computing Curriculum resources - now including complete lesson plans for Year 1 through 6, as well as themed whole school activities.

All designed to be user-friendly and freely available for teachers 👉 bit.ly/4gkHSg4

#CSEd #EduSky #TeamCompSci #STEM

News - Archives of IT

Here's the link direct to our 'archive' of some 300 interviews with tech pioneers and leaders: archivesit.org.uk/interviews/

Image of Professor Sir Martin Sweeting at SSTL plus a quote from him on Careers advice: "Whatever you do, if you have the choice, choose something which you're interested in, something that stimulates you."

🤔 What advice would you give a young person starting out in the tech industry today?

At Archives of IT, we are grateful to the many inspirational tech leaders who have shared their advice with young people as they look back on their own careers in conversation with us... see the archive for more!

Roger Graham OBE, founder of Archives of IT, dies aged 86 - Archives of IT Roger Graham at the 40th anniversary dinner of the Prince’s Trust (now the King’s Trust)…

It is with great sadness we share Roger Graham OBE, founder of Archives of IT, passed away on Friday 8 August. Our thoughts are with Roger’s wife Irene, family and friends. Roger founded us in 2015 after a 60 year career in IT. Find out more in our tribute below.
archivesit.org.uk/roger-graham...

We are so sad to hear this news. We had the honour of interviewing Dame Stephanie about her life in 2017 (and your good self in 2021!). Her life is a remarkable one.

Dame Stephanie Shirley - Archives of IT Dame Steve Shirley founded the software house F International initially only using women workers who worked from home. It was in 1962 and she had hit the glass ceiling again in her employment. She had...

We are sad to hear of the death of Dame Stephanie Shirley. We had the privilege to interview her about her life and achievements in 2017. Listen to her interview below.
We remember her as a information technology pioneer, businesswoman and philanthropist.
archivesit.org.uk/interviews/d...

YouTube video by This Is Engineering Engineering Hero: Dame Stephanie Shirley (full)

We are deeply saddened to learn the news of the passing of Academy Fellow Dame Stephanie Shirley. A pioneering tech entrepreneur, philanthropist and icon for gender equality, she will continue to be an inspiration to many.

Watch her Engineering Hero film here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HU...

💡For History Day North, find out how we can help you with your research project on the history of IT, telecommunications and computing.
See our showcase exhibitions.london.ac.uk/s/history-da...
@ihr.bsky.social
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#DCDC25

Only a week to go until #HistDayNorth 2025!

We can't wait to showcase our collection of oral history interviews with tech pioneers to more students, researchers & budding historians.

Check out this video from last year for an introduction to our archive & start exploring: bit.ly/40yqLRo.

#DCDC25

Last month, AIT CEO Tola Sargeant had the privilege of sitting down with a true #spacetech pioneer, Professor Sir Martin Sweeting at Surrey Satellite Technology, to hear his inspiring story.

Follow the link to our website, or subscribe to our YouTube channel, to watch the interview 👉 bit.ly/45fi9l6

We are delighted to share a personal story on the mobile phone revolution from founding MD of Cellnet John Carrington.

Here, John takes us back to the late 1980s when he was part of delegations that secured a pan-European agreement on a mobile network standard.

👉 archivesit.org.uk/blog-2/the-m...

Technology Books for Children – Browse by Theme or Topic Browse our collection of technology books for children, grouped by category. Discover engaging tech-themed stories to inspire young readers aged 7–11.

Thanks to @techbooks4kids.bsky.social for collaborating with us on this challenge. You can find some great ideas for books to read on their website 👉 www.technologybooksforchildren.org/books/

#TeamCompSci #CSEd #EduSky

📢 Calling all teachers & parents... looking for a summer activity for 7-11 year-olds that is tech-related but doesn't involve screen time?

Download our free 'Summer of Stories & Discovery' activity booklet & encourage your young people to take on the summer reading challenge! 📚 🙌

bit.ly/46G9OrT

🚀 We’ve launched a tech-themed summer reading challenge in collaboration with @techbooks4kids.bsky.social.

📚 The 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 is aimed at children aged 7 to 11 and offers screen-free fun over the summer holidays. Please download and share! archivesit.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Our #summerreadingchallenge is launching on Monday! Read more about what to expect www.technologybooksforchildren.org/2025/07/03/s...

#BookSky #Technology #ChildrensBooks #EduSky

AIT publishes interviews with Reading’s trailblazing Digital Equipment Corporation workers - Archives of IT The personal stories of 21 former workers of the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) have been curated and published on Archives of IT’s website in collaboration with Reading Museum’s and The National...

✳️ AIT is proud to publish the personal stories of 21 former workers of the Digital Equipment Corporation — pioneer of the minicomputer — in collaboration with @readingmuseum.bsky.social and The National Museum of Computing.

#TechPioneers #OralHistory

➡️ Read more: archivesit.org.uk/interviews-w...

CODE Award winners announced – celebrating the digital achievements of young innovators - Archives of IT Main image: Young innovators getting involved in engineering. Photo by Vanessa Loring The Digit<all> CODE…

🏅 The winners of the Digit<all> CODE (Champions of Digital Engineering) Awards have been announced.

✳️ The awards were created to help young digital leaders shine and this year Archives of IT sponsored the inaugural IT Pioneer Award.

#STEMEducation

➡️ Read more: archivesit.org.uk/code-award-w...

Mandy Chessell CBE - Archives of IT Mandy Chessell CBE  is a software engineer, who is recognised with multiple honours for her key role in the technology which is at the heart of business critical operations around the world. She was a...

For International Women in Engineering Day, why not watch this fascinating interview with Mandy Chessell CBE, awarded a CBE for services to engineering and the first woman to be awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering 🏅
archivesit.org.uk/interviews/m...
‪@raeng.org.uk‬ #INWED25

Today is mathematician Alan Turing's birthday! 🎂
As well as his achievements at Bletchley during WWII, did you know he also had a hand in one of the first computer programmes? Find out more below!

Today, let’s take a moment to recognize and celebrate the namesake of our most prestigious award: Alan M. Turing, who was born on this day in 1912. His work cracked the Enigma code, helped win WWII, and laid the groundwork for #AI. More on him, here: amturing.acm.org/amtv.cfm