Digital technology, both hardware and software, has worked its way into almost every nook and cranny of our day-to-day existence. It entertains us. It keeps us healthy. It manages our money. It allows us to communicate. It keeps us informed. It enables us to commute to work and to travel long distances. It answers our questions. It powers our purchases, and guides merchandise to our doorsteps. It is used in every aspect of manufacturing the products we consume. It nourishes us, literally and figuratively. It makes our homes livable. It is our constant companion, no further than a pocket away. It helps us be our better (and sometimes worse) selves.
Interestingly, and somewhat unfortunately, the folks behind all of this technology are relatively unknown to most of us. We catch glimpses of their faces only occasionally, when an engineer like Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Elon Musk, or Mark Zuckerberg creates something extraordinary and founds a company like Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, Google, Tesla, or Facebook to bring that thing into the world. But there are thousands upon thousands of other engineers, computer scientists, researchers, and developers who are bringing extraordinary things into the world every day.
They work behind the tech to make our modern lives possible.
The Behind the Tech project's singular purpose is to acknowledge the makers of technology and what they do. We hope that by doing this we can help to remove some of the mystery surrounding the creation of technology, and ensure that history doesn't forget key details about who was doing what at a time of pivotal and rapid change in our industry and society. Most importantly though, we want to ensure that everyone--whether they are a child hoping for their future, a student pursuing their dream, or a professional trying to make their mark on the world--can find inspiration and aspiration in the faces and stories of the diverse group of individuals behind modern technology.
Behind the Tech is a non-profit organization focused on increasing the visibility of the faces and stories behind modern technology. If you are interested in getting involved with the project, donating time or resources, or collaborating with us in some other way, please drop an e-mail to Kevin Scott at:
kevin@behindthetech.org
Please feel free to nominate exceptional engineers for inclusion in the Behind the Tech Project. We are always happy to meet and chat with folks making extraordinary contributions to technology that in turn are having an impact on the world.