Date: 2009-04-07 Category: Events

Martin Campbell-Kelly Lecture:
Victorian Data Processing in Britain

Tuesday 28th April

6:00pm: Networking & Refreshments
6:30pm: Keynote lecture

Wallace Lecture Theatre,
Swansea University,
Singleton Park,
Swansea,
SA2 8PP
Maps and Location

Guest Speaker: Martin Campbell-Kelly, Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Warwick

Large-scale data processing did not begin with accounting machines and computers -- it began in Britain in the 1860s with the first industrial-scale offices. These offices employed hundreds or thousands of clerks to process countless thousands of transactions per day, entirely by hand. Although these offices did their data processing with nothing more sophisticated than a pen and ledger, they developed astonishingly complex and robust systems perfectly adapted to what could be done with the most primitive technology.

This talk will take you on an illustrated tour of some major Victorian offices, including the Bankers Clearing House, the Census Office, the Prudential Assurance Company, the Central Telegraph Office, and the Post Office Saving Bank.

The central message of the talk is that while technology evolves, information processing systems and structures are extraordinarily persistent and sometimes have roots that go back 150 years.

This event has been organised by the BCS South Wales Branch and is supported by ITWales.

Booking for this event is now closed