CER Computers as Weapons of Mass Disruption: The Yugoslav Computer Industry in the 1960s (original) (raw)
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The article investigates the history of the CER-10, the first Yugoslav electronic computer, and the subsequent failed attempt for the establishment of the computer industry during the 1960s. While the CER-10 was an important milestone on the Yugoslav road to technological modernization, the aftermath of this project revealed myriads of problems of the entire Yugoslav state system, which included simultaneous implementation of conflicting economic policies, the heavy hand of Aleksandar Ranković and the Yugoslav secret police in the country's economy, as well as the channeling of federal funds into Serbian companies without much economic rationale, all of which eventually ground the establishment of this high-tech industrial sector to a halt.
Building computers in Serbia: The first half of the digital century
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In this paper, we describe the early development of CER-10, the first digital computer built in Serbia, honor its inventors, and follow the professional path of its chief designers, prof. Rajko Tomovic and prof. Tihomir Aleksic, who became the first university professor of computer engineering in Serbia. We also give a short overview of CER family of computers that were developed after the CER-10 till midseventies. In the early eighties, computer revolution continued with personal computers, so we show the early attempts to produce this kind of computers in Serbia, from "build it yourself" campaigns to the industrial production, and we analyze implications of these attempts to the development of user community and evolution to the information society.
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The article describes a number of critical moments in the creation of Soviet computer technology and the outstanding role of Academician Keldysh in solving these problems.
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This study explores the transfer of computer technology in the U.S.-Yugoslav joint venture. As an example of a unique form of economic cooperation between socialist enterprises and West corporations, Ei-Honeywell was founded in 1978. The joint venture included Honeywell and two Yugoslav entities, the Electronic Industry in Niš and Progres from Belgrade, with a focus on manufacturing computers and related peripherals. Through the analysis of factory publications, archival documents, and interviews, the research highlights that, while the venture spurred domestic innovation, the Yugoslav enterprise was not able to achieve full autonomous production without relying on Honeywell’s licensing. Ultimately, this joint venture demonstrates another layer of U.S.-Yugoslav economic relations, illustrating efforts to enhance commercial cooperation between the two countries throughout the Cold War era.
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For a long time, the Soviet pattern of development and use of computing differed from the West in terms of time-scale, philosophy, institutional arrangements, capital decisions, and applications. Starting in the late 1950s, a major political, military, and economic reassessment of the value of computing took place; during the next dozen years, the overall Soviet view moved much closer to that of the rest of the developed world. This new perception has been backed by large political and economic commitments. Apparently the Soviet leadership is hoping that computer technology will make the existing economic system more efficient and effective, and will thus help to avoid fundamental reforms that are politically unacceptable. A massive transfer of foreign technology over the last decade has made the Soviet computer industry less isolated than during the 1960s, but its interfaces with the outside world are still narrowly defined. Serious difficulties remain in trying to transplant a sop...
Tracing the Origins of the First Soviet Computers, Beyond Legends
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The first Soviet digital computers, the M-1 and the MESM, were built in 1951, a few years after their western counterparts. Anecdotal storytelling narrates that Russian scientists learned of electronic computers from Western radio broadcasts and popular magazines that arrived in the Soviet Union. The article examines the plausibility of the legends and tries to reconstruct the origins of the first Soviet computers and the influence of Western projects on a more solid basis of historical research.
The Joint Project Arifmometr an Archaeology of Computing in the Ussr
The research project Arifmometr is among the first systematic scientific studies on the general history of development of both Russian computer engineering and Russian computer theory ever performed in an European context. The basic idea and main objective of the project is the creation of a systematized, complete and adequate scientific review of the development of Russian (USSR) computing for the European audience. Subject of the study will be Russian computing with its specific features in the context of European computer development and scientific and cultural progress from the first counting devices and theoretical works of the beginning period until the end of an independent development in the early 70s (when computer science and industry in the USSR adopted and became compatible with American IBM standards). The aim is to fill the gap in knowledge on the subject and to represent a more complete general picture of European computer science and computer culture. All essential a...