Birthplace of the Digital Revolution
There's no disputing the Industrial revolution started in the Heart of the Midlands, however the origins of the Digital Revolution are possibly less clear. However, when a global heavy weight brand like Google attributes the digital industries to Heart of the Midlands heroine Ada Lovelace, we feel our claim is significant.
Ada Lovelace mother of the Digital Revolution
Google honoured Ada Lovelace on the anniversary of her birth in 2012 with their Google doodle.
Impressive that the digital industries based on the concepts of a woman.
Google 2012
If Google, one of the most influencial brands to emerge from the digital revolution says this about Ada Lovelace, then we think The Heart of the Midlands has a legitimate claim to birthplace of the Digital Revolution as well as the Industrial Revolution and Manufacturing Birthplace. Here's the full script supporting the Google Doodle and animation above.
She was an English mathematician and writer. She was the first computer programmer worldwide. The doodle shows the evolution of computer-machines -- and her writings as the basic element. Ada Lovelace was born as Augusta Ada Byron on Dec. 10th 1815. As a young adult, she took an interest in mathematics, and in particular Charles Babbage's work on the analytical engine. Since 1842 Ada Lovelace wrote a lot of notes that are considered the first computer program.
Impressive that the digital industries are based on the concepts of a woman. Don't forget it :-)
Happy Birthday Ada Lovelace.
The Digital Revolution according to Wikipedia is...
The Digital Revolution is the shift from mechanical and analogue electronic technology to digital electronics which began anywhere from the late 1950s to the late 1970s with the adoption and proliferation of digital computers and digital record keeping that continues to the present day.
But where would the Digital Revolution be without programming?
Ada Lovelace was a gifted mathematician who became the world’s first computer programmer, and she was raised at Kirkby Hall. Ada, Countess of Lovelace, was a mathematician and computing pioneer. She has been called the world’s first computer programmer because of her work on the analytical engine developed by Charles Babbage, arguably the inventor of the computer.
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On the 10th October 2017 a Blue Plaque in the name of Ada Lovelace was unveiled at the coach house at Mallory Park Racing Circuit, the former site of Kirkby Hall in Kirkby Mallory, Leicestershire.
In 1843, she wrote the letter while adding extensive notes to her translation of an Italian paper on Babbage’s analytical engine. In one note, she proposed an algorithm for how the machine could compute the Bernoulli sequence of numbers – since described as the world’s first piece of computer code. Her contribution to computing is now widely acknowledged, and in 1979 the United States Department of Defence chose to name its new software Ada in her honour.
What is the DNA of digital?
The history of digital culture can be anything from early computers to the very first version of Tim Berners-Lee’s world wide web. The history of video games reveals a treasure trove of classics, from Pac-Man and Pong, to Lara Croft in Tomb Raider right through to Candy Crush. There's no doubting the Heart off the Midlands played a significant role here too.
How to distinguish between and define the First and Second Digital Revolutions
The First Digital Revolution involved only the top half of the diagram, and comprised the period of mass digitisation that commenced around 1980, during which time an increasing number of media, products and services were pushed into an electronic, binary format - typically online, but saved as PDF, sent as files via ISDN, etc.
In contrast the Second Digital Revolution involves all of the figure, and signifies the watershed that took place from around the year 2000 as mass atomisation began to take hold, and during which time electronic, digital content has increasingly and routinely been "pulled back" from cyberspace into the perceptibly-real world - for example 3D digital printing.
The most valued digital products will in future be those that can easily be transformed into physical reality. This is because most people will continue to value that which they can see, hear and touch more than the mental abstraction of cyberspace, and/or their immersion into any computer-generated virtual world. Alternatively, as Rolls-Royce and Nottingham University are developing, robotics augmenting existing human skills and creating new jobs.
Rolls-Royce's impact on the Digital Revolution
Rolls-Royce has been at the forefront of innovation and excellence for over 100 years. Their belief is in tapping into the disruptive potential of today’s digital technologies they can create the solutions of tomorrow. Harnessing the power of collaboration is the key, that’s why they’ve partnered with several digital technology leaders to power digital progress across the globe.
R2 Data Labs is changing the way the world is powered by unleashing the value of data, and Rolls-Royce are building highly collaborative, expert data analytics teams across the globe.
Rolls Royce are also pioneering the new field of robotic jet engine surgery, in partnership with researchers at Nottingham University. Using this new technology, Rolls Royce engineers based in the UK can repair a jet engine thousands of miles away, using a specially designed tele-robot.
This is an example of robotics augmenting existing human skills and creating new jobs – technicians on the ground at airports – while maximising the value and effectiveness of a company’s expert employees. The hardware and software to do this have been developed at Nottingham University, where Rolls Royce has a research facility.
This type of tele-engineering, remote inspection, and repair work is forecast to be a mainstay of the robotics revolution. Drones, repair bots, AI, machine-learning, haptics, and other technologies, will enable organisations to inspect roads, bridges, towers, railway lines, wind turbines, nuclear power stations, sewers, gas pipes, and other parts of our critical infrastructure much more efficiently, cheaply, and at lower risk to human beings than is possible at present.
Science Park to be “the spearhead of the industrial digital revolution”
Adjacent to the world headquarters of Rolls-Royce, The University of Derby Science Park will be home to a host of innovative start-ups and growing businesses. Derby is at the cutting edge of advanced manufacturing and has unique importance in the spheres of maritime, rail, automobile and aerospace. The Science Park will be the hub of new developments in these and associated industries.
“No other city in the world can match our past achievements in industry and we believe that none will match our future advancements and discoveries”.
Hari Punchihewa
Deputy CEO/Finance Director, University of Derby
It will bring small business innovators together with global companies like Rolls-Royce, Toyota, Bombardier and JCB, plus leading-edge academic researchers, policy-makers and funders.