In the Steps of Alan Turing: Working in the Digital Age

Book excerpt: Computing has developed at an astonishing pace over the last 40 years and Professor Alty has been involved in most aspects from working at the bits/bytes level to higher level management. As a member of the Computer Board for Universities and Research Councils between 1976–81, he chaired a very influential working party on microtechnology which had a major impact both in universities and in industry. One commentator wrote “This report should be tattooed on the DTI’s backside”! In 1976, he and his team were the first to recognise that the postcode was much more important than assisting the posting of letters, and they pioneered its commercial use. He spent a great deal of effort making computers easier to use for the average person. Between 1984 and 1990, he was Executive Director of the Turing Institute for Artificial Intelligence and became very involved with artificial intelligence research around the world. Between 1990 and 2000, his research team made significant improvements to critical computer interfaces in power stations and aircraft. In the 1990s, Professor Alty examined the techniques of musical composition and showed that they could be used in computer interfaces. In 1996, he pioneered the commercial use of digital radio, producing with Roberts Radio the first successful DAB Radio, one of which is on display in the British Science Museum. Finally, in 2000 he and his team performed some important research into dyslexia, which is still highly quoted even today. This book provides an interesting insight into working in the digital age.