Yorkshire leading ladies celebrate sci-fi first

There’s been a lot of national excitement about the first leading female star in one of the UK’s oldest science fiction series. Not only a first female, but also from Yorkshire.

Another “Doctor” is CEO and Founder of aql, Dr Adam Beaumont. aql “materialised” the LEODIS (Leeds Electronic Ordnance Digital Information System) boxes around Leeds to provide free public wifi, known as “#scifiwifi”.

aql’s COO, Sarah Tulip, is passionate about bringing more women into technology, with aql hosting the successful Northern Power Women conference at aql’s historic Grade II listed HQ earlier this month.

aql’s own Doctor said: “We’ve built the main internet hub and infrastructure for the region to support digital growth. Now that we’ve successfully created the right ‘plumbing’ to put Leeds on the global digital map, we have to turn to the ecosystem and a big part of that is skills and people.

“We work closely with the universities and colleges within the region to inspire young people to choose technology as a career. Sarah’s mission is to increase the number of women who make that choice.”

The reason for installing the blue boxes was that the company wanted to create an “icon” for Leeds. As a full telecommunications operator, installing restored K6 phone boxes was business-as-usual and is part of the company’s ethos to give back to the city.

Since the boxes’ inception in 2013, 101,836 different people have registered to use the system.