Women in tech – the pioneers behind innovation

Behind many of the important breakthroughs that have shaped the tech world are women whose ideas, expertise, and dedication have pushed the boundaries of what is possible. Through innovation, knowledge, and drive, their work has laid the foundation for everything from the early development of programming to today's digital ecosystem.

On International Women's Day, we're shining a light on some of the women who've shaped the tech industry and paved the way for today's innovations.

Did you know that the world's first computer programmer was a woman? Back in the 1800s, Ada Lovelace wrote what is often considered to be the first computer algorithm. Her ideas paved the way for modern programming long before computers even existed.

Hedy Lamarr was not only a film star, but also an inventor whose innovations form the basis of modern technology. During World War II, she developed a frequency hopping technique that later became the basis for wireless communications such as Bluetooth, GPS, and WiFi.

Radia Perlman, also known asthe "mother of the internet,"is one of the key figures behind how the internet works today. In the 1980s, she developed the Spanning Tree Protocol ( STP), a technology that allows computer networks to be connected in multiple ways without crashing. The technology is still used today to control traffic on the internet.

Sweden's first programmer was the academic Elsa-Karin Boestad-Nilsson. She played a central role in the early development of computers in Sweden and became an important pioneer in programming. In the 1950s, she worked with programming on BESK, Sweden's first mainframe computer. Her work contributed to building up expertise and structures that later shaped the growth of the Swedish IT industry.

Margaret Hamilton is the programmer, systems developer, and computer scientist who led the development of the software that made the first moon landing possible with Apollo 11 in 1969. She coined the term " software engineering " and laid the groundwork for modern software development.

Swedish engineer Laila Ohlgren played a decisive role in the development of mobile telephony. In the 1970s, she came up with the idea of first dialing the number and then pressing a connect button—what we now recognize as the green call button. This solution made mobile networks more stable, and the call button became a global standard used in virtually all mobile phones.

Fei-Fei Li is one of the world's most influential AI researchers. She led the work on ImageNet, the breakthrough that laid the foundation for today's image and language AI. She is also a clear voice for responsible AI and how technology should be used for the benefit of society.

As the long-time CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki shaped how billions of people create, share, and consume content digitally. She was one of Google's first employees and has been instrumental in shaping platforms, the creator economy, and digital business models.

History shows that innovation has no gender, but opportunities and visibility have not always been evenly distributed. Today, progress is being driven forward by new voices, perspectives, and ideas from women who are writing the next chapter in history. Together, we are shaping the technology of the future—who will be the next woman to change it?

The women in this article showed that technology is shaped by courage, competence, and leadership. For the next generation to have the same opportunities, clear values and responsibility are required, with today's and tomorrow's leadership playing a central role.

In TechSweden's manifesto for tech leadership, we bring together our shared principles for how tech leaders can contribute to a stronger, more equal, and sustainable industry.

Read the manifesto and join us in shaping the future of tech leadership: Tech Leadership – TechSweden

Read more about the women who digitized the world at: Datadamer | Internet Museum