Professor Dame Wendy Hall and Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho have been made Distinguished Fellows by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
Both were presented with their awards by HRH, The Duke of Kent, BCS Patron at the Institute’s annual dinner recently.
The announcement means Dame Wendy Hall and Baroness Lane-Fox join the likes of Bill Gates, Sir Tim Berners Lee and Vint Cerf in the distinction.
Dame Wendy Hall is a Professor of Computer Science and Executive Director of the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton. She was Dean of the Faculty of Physical Science and Engineering from 2010 to 2014.
She was one of the first computer scientists to undertake serious research in multimedia and hypermedia, with her current research including applications of the Semantic Web and exploring the interface between the life sciences and the physical sciences. She is Managing Director of the Web Science Trust.
Paul Fletcher, BCS Group CEO, said: “This honour is not only to recognise Professor Dame Wendy Hall as one of the most influential people in IT, both in the UK and world-wide, but also for her tireless work in championing women in technology for more than thirty years. The influence of Wendy’s work has been significant in many areas including digital libraries, the development of the Semantic Web, and the emerging research discipline of Web Science.”
Professor Dame Wendy Hall said: “I am delighted and deeply honoured to receive this award. When I joined the BCS many years ago as a junior lecturer at the University of Southampton, I never imagined I would ever join the ranks of such a distinguished group. There is no doubt that being a member of BCS played a significant part in the development of my career, and I am very privileged to be able to accept this award.”
Baroness Martha Lane-Fox is renowned for co-founding website lastminute.com with Brent Hoberman in 1998. She was also the UK Digital Champion, appointed by the government, from June 2010 until November 2013.
Last year she founded doteveryone.org.uk a national organisation, committed to making the UK brilliant in the network age. She was appointed a crossbench peer in the House of Lords in 2013 and in 2014 she was appointed Chancellor of the Open University. In addition she is chair of the digital skills charity Go ON UK.
In 2015 Martha joined the board of the Creative Industries Federation, the Scale up institute and the Open Data Institute. Martha has also founded her own charitable foundation Antigone.org.uk and serves as a Patron of AbilityNet, Reprieve, Camfed and Just for Kids Law.
Fetcher said: “Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho has inspired many people through her extensive work. This honour recognises her distinguished career in IT as a business woman. Our purpose at BCS is making IT good for society and we believe that Martha is an embodiment of this philosophy with her work in successfully developing new technology services, her commitment to digital inclusion and championing new approaches to public policy to ensure that no one gets left behind in this digital age.”
Martha Lane Fox said: “I am delighted to be honoured by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. We are moving very fast from an industrial age to a network age that presents great opportunities but also new challenges and ethical choices. The UK’s future economic prosperity and social well-being are critically dependent upon our being a world leader in the new network age. I passionately believe that promoting and protecting the original promises of the internet – openness, transparency, freedom and universality – are essential if we are to harness the full potential of the internet and that we must ensure everyone in the UK has the digital skills needed to benefit from the network age.”
