Old boy's club, meet new girl's group.
I love the idea of Ada Lovelace Day, which celebrates the achievements of women in science and technology. It immediately made me think of women I've encoutered in various ways who have made a lasting contribution to this industry. This is a top five, in no particular order, meant to salute their work and hopefully to inspire the women who will follow in their footsteps.
1. Susan Doniz is emerging as a highly connected, forward-thinking CIO through her work at Proctor & Gamble Canada as well as various industry associations. While other people just talk about things like social media, she's making social media tools work in her organization.
2. Ann Cavoukian, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, has become one of the most outspoken critics of the way citizen data is often left unprotected. We need more like her.
3. Lynn Greiner is a longtime contributor to our publications who is as well-versed in technology as many of our readers. She is chronicling the history of the Canadian IT sector as it unfolds.
4. Lynda Leonard has been working for years behind the scenes at the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), representing the vendor community and ensuring their perpsective is heard and understood.
5. Fawn Annan has been my boss, but to most people she's the person who pioneered the Lac Carling Congress and many other successful events. As biased as it might seem to include her here, I can think of few other people who have brought so many IT community stakeholders together.
That's my list. What's yours? Ada Lovelace may be over tomorrow, but its spirit could continue for a long time to come.