THE LONG AND STORIED HISTORY OF BROADCASTING AND COMPUTER CODING CELEBRATED FOR CODE WEEK

94.4FM Salford City Radio Jimmy Petruzzi interviews Television presenter and technology advocate Maggie Philbin
THE LONG AND STORIED HISTORY OF BROADCASTING AND COMPUTER CODING CELEBRATED FOR CODE WEEK

Europe Code Week (7th to 22nd Oct) is a grassroots initiative that aims to bring coding and digital literacy to everybody in a fun and engaging way. It’s incredibly popular, with 3.4 million people from 80 countries worldwide taking part last year.

Broadcast media and computing have a long and storied history of influence in the UK, with those behind the BBC’s Computer Literacy Project deserving great credit for their foresight and achievements. Planning for the project began in 1979, and ran from 1982 until 1989, with those who initiated it recognising the significance of the microprocessor and the economic and societal importance of understanding the language of computers.

In the early 1980s, the BBC even commissioned a home computer (more than one million BBC Micros were delivered to schools and homes) and broadcast series such as The Computer Programme (first aired on BBC2 in 1982) helped inspire a generation of coders. Many of the girls and boys who watched The Computer Programme (1982), Making the Most of the Micro (1983), and With a Little Help from the Chip (1985), may maintain a lifelong interest in coding which is yet to be fulfilled.