Britain’s National Museum of Computing received a boost yesterday when tech companies IBM and PGP jointly gave $100,000 to help restore and curate exhibits. However, the museum is looking for a total of $14 million to secure its future.
Bletchley Park, located not far from London, was the home of Colossus, believed to be the first computer, and used during World War II, and where the famous Enigma code was broken.
Of the $14 million needed by the museum, about £2 million will go to the curating and restoration of exhibits, with the remainder creating a fund to ensure free entrance. To date the museum has been given $150,000 by the British Computer Society, with another $100,000 in private donations.
Phillip Dunkelberger, president and chief executive officer of data protection specialist PGP Corporation told the BBC:
"I think that the people who set out to do their work everyday, I don’t think they set out to change the world by building the mainframe computer. And really they did it for the greater good. Ultimately we would like to see it considered the first home. If you come to San Jose, we have the San Jose tech museum. I think it very easily could be the English equivalent."
