How IBM Won: Changes in Government Policy Concerning the Development of Computing Technology in the USSR in the Second Half of the 1960s.

The article examines a very relevant problem related to the formation of a Soviet government strategy for the development and production of computers in the second half of the 1960s. The novelty of the research is determined not only by the introduction of previously unpublished, declassified archival documents for scientific use, but also by solving the problem of identifying the factors that prompted the central authorities to switch to cloning American models. It is shown that, in 1967, leaning on the leading experts’ opinion, Soviet leadership acknowledged that all the measures taken earlier to accelerate the development and production of modern computers failed to produce the desired effect. The gap between the Soviet Union and advanced countries continued to grow. It is concluded that the analysis of the options proposed by various departments prompted the government to follow the well-trodden path and borrow American models. Among the factors that determined this decision were the prevalence of the departmental approach and the failure to recognize the importance of computer industry for the development of the country. Other options proposed by the leading scientists were ignored by the authorities.

computer technology, computers, scientists, progress in science and technology, public policy