06 Mar Great milestones of women in the history of telecommunications

Every 8th March, International Women’s Day invites us to reflect on the progress made in terms of equality. However, in technological sectors, this date also serves to rescue names that official chronology sometimes forgets. The history of telecommunications cannot be understood without female ingenuity; from the first algorithm to the foundation of Wi-Fi, women have been the silent architects of our current hyperconnectivity.

While women make up only 23% of telecommunications students in Spain today, the legacy of pioneering women reminds us that talent has no gender.

Universal pioneers: from code to spread spectrum

When discussing women who have shaped the course of history, it is essential to begin with Ada Lovelace. In the mid-19th century, Lovelace did far more than translate mathematical texts; she wrote what is widely regarded as the first computer program in history for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine. She was also the first to recognise that machines could process far more than numbers — with the right instructions, they could even create music or art.

Years later, during the Second World War, the actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr developed “frequency hopping”. This system, initially designed to guide torpedoes without being intercepted, is the cornerstone of the wireless technologies we use today, such as Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

The architects of modern infrastructure

The history of telecommunications took a quantum leap thanks to figures such as Shirley Ann Jackson. As a physicist at Bell Labs, her research in theoretical physics enabled the development of the optical fibre cable, as well as everyday inventions such as caller ID and call waiting.

Other milestones of women in technical history include:

• Radia Perlman: Known as the “Mother of the Internet”, she invented the STP (Spanning Tree Protocol), which is fundamental for Ethernet networks to function without collapsing.
• Erna Schneider Hoover: She revolutionised telephone exchanges by creating a digital switching system that prevented line overload during peak hours.
• Karen Spärck Jones: A pioneer in natural language processing; her work is the basis of modern search engines and information retrieval on the web.

The history of telecommunications in Spain: current role models

In our country, the evolution of the sector also bears a woman’s name. A prominent example in the history of telecommunications in Spain is María Jesús Prieto Laffargue, who in 2000 became the first woman to chair the Engineering Institute of Spain and, later, the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO).

Today, figures such as Nuria Oliver, an expert in Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, continue to lead the way. Oliver not only leads cutting-edge research in ubiquitous computing but also works actively to awaken technological vocations in girls and adolescents, combatting the gender gap that still persists in STEM careers.

The path to the future: overcoming the STEM gap

Although the past is brilliant, the future requires more female talent. Initiatives such as Teleco Renta work to show girls that being a “teleco” is not a matter of gender, but of ingenuity. Through programmes like Oracle4girls or the promotion of role models, the aim is to reverse worrying data: in Spain, only 5.5% of employed women work in STEM fields, compared to 13% of men.

At lyntia, we join the celebration of International Women’s Day by highlighting these role models. We firmly believe that innovation can only be truly complete when it is diverse, and that understanding our history is the first step toward building a future free of technical and social barriers.