Samuel Fedida,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(4 May 1918 – 2007) was an Egyptian-born British telecommunication engineer responsible at

Post Office Telecommunications Post Office Telecommunications was set up as a separate department of the UK General Post Office, Post Office, in October 1969. The Post Office Act 1969 was passed to provide for greater efficiency in post and telephone services; rather than run ...

for the development of Viewdata. Fedida was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

, Egypt. He had the idea for Viewdata in 1968 after reading a publication with the title ''The Computer as Communications Device''. The first prototype became operational in 1974. In 1977 the system was introduced in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 1980 Birthday Honours. The book Viewdata Revolution authored by Mr Fedida and Mr Rex Malik, ISBN 0852272146, was published in 1979, and is listed in the main catalogue of The British Library.

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* * * * * * * * * 1918 births 2007 deaths British computer scientists 20th-century British inventors