Archives of IT (AIT) was founded in 2015 by Roger Graham OBE to tell the story of how tech has transformed our lives, in the words of the people who made it happen. The charity’s online collection of media and interviews from people in the tech industry creates a unique understanding of its development from the 1940s to the present day.
In 2022, the WCIT Charity helped AIT to fund a bursary for postdoctoral research into the impact of the UK’s IT and communication industry. The result is a comprehensive digital report on Human Computer Interaction, particularly on the UK’s distinctive contribution to the project, which was led by Dr Elisabetta Mori.
In her report Dr Mori takes the reader on a journey through HCI’s evolution from the early years of computing in 1948 – when the subject was dominated by the first mainframes – to today’s world where we take for granted Graphical User Interfaces and an ever-growing number of interactive technologies.
AIT’s Director, Tom Abram, said: “Reading about the past made those of us who have been working closely with Dr Mori think about the future. We have been struck, once again, by how the lessons of history are so often relevant going forward: HCI has a key part to play in building a future that’s more democratic, based on the total human experience and caters for all genders, backgrounds, and abilities – but only if we do it right.”
You can read the full report here and take a whistle-stop tour of the last 75 years with clips of interviews from the professionals in the field on YouTube.
