Put your feet up -- it's National Techies Day!

Dave Wilby ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 05 Oct 1999 10:13 BST

Today has been declared National Techies Day (NTD) across America in a government led effort to make computing professionals feel more appreciated... Oh and to encourage youngsters to get into IT.

Organisers of the event, keeping the official Techies Day website up to date today, say thousands of organisations and schools across the U.S. will be taking part in the celebration.

'Only in America' you might say, and you could be right in questioning whether it is really necessary to further massage the egos of the Geek contingent, but encouraging children to develop IT skills is undoubtedly a more worthwhile cause.

NTD claims recent studies have shown fewer students are studying the requisite maths and science courses necessary for careers in technology, despite the increasing number of job opportunities within IT.