Linus Torvalds has been awarded the Grand Prize of the Millenium Technology Prize for his work in creating of a new open source operating system for computers which led to the popular Linux kernel.
For the first time in the history of the Millenium Technology Prize, the Technology Academy Finland couldn’t decide between two contenders.
The Grand prize was also awarded to Dr Shinya Yamanaka in recognition for discovering a new method to develop induced pluripotent stem cells for medical research.
The Millennium Technology Prize is Finland’s tribute to life-enhancing technological innovations. The prize has been established in tribute to human life enhancing technologies as well as to steer the course of technological development to a more humane direction.
It is awarded biannually by the Technology Academy Finland with potential candidates being sought from across the world and all fields of technology.
Nominations for the prize can be made by academies, universities, research institutes and industrial organizations.
In a statement, the Technology Academy Finland said: “The International Selection Committee has to judge whether an innovation has had a favourable impact on people’s lives and assess its potential for further development to benefit humanity in the future. The innovations of both this year’s winners embody that principle”
Having been first awarded in 2004, none of the previous winners have been Finnish and have included the likes of Tim Berners-Lee of the United Kingdom, who invented the World Wide Web and now heads the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Linus, born in 1969 in Helsinki (Finland) has indicated over the years that he has received numerous job offers including one from Steve Jobs to go and work for Apple.
He has always maintained his passion for Linux and remained loyal to the Linux Foundation – a non-profit technology consortium that looks at promoting the growth of Linux.
Linux has proven popular around the world and especially in Africa with South African Mark Shuttleworth developing his Ubuntu version of Linux that runs on PCs, Laptops, devices and Smart TVs across the world.
