The donation will help restore exhibits at the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park, (Buckinghamshire, England).
The two firms said they hoped the money would kick-start further donations from the technology industry to make up an estimated £7million needed to run the museum.
Exhibits include Colossus, thought by many to be the world's first computer.
Today, Bletchley is home to the National Museum of Computing but a lack of funding has sadly made the facilities fall into a state of decay.
PGP said as an encryption firm, the company has a strong connection to the pioneer work that went on at Bletchley Park. PGP CEO Phillip Dunkelberger said the company also believes the technology industry as a whole owes a huge historical debt to Bletchley Park and has a duty to preserve and protect the site for future generations.
Andy Clark, a director and a trustee at the museum, said he was thrilled by the donation.
"This is a kick-start, these guys are really helping us out by getting us the support of the technology community really for the first time."
He said of the £7 million the museum hoped to raise, about £1million would go towards restoration and curation and the rest would be entrusted to a fund to allow the museum to run without charging an entrance fee.
The British Computer Society had already donated £75,000 and about £50,000 had come through personal donations.
Earlier this year, about 100 academics signed a letter to The Times saying the code-cracking centre, and crucible of the UK computer industry, was being allowed to fall into decay.
Source : http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210600420
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