The 1970 All-Union Conference on Programming: Problems and Prospects of Soviet Computing

Abstract

This thesis examines the state of Soviet computing development lag through a case study of the Second All-Union Conference on Programming (VKP-2) in February 1970. Using an extensive historiography consisting of the technical history of computing, the history of Soviet computing, and specific literature foregrounding the Novosibirsk Computing Center which hosted VKP-2, this thesis aims to be in conversation with both historical and technical works. By analyzing VKP-2 via its technical program, as well as the common themes of Soviet computing, such as bureaucratic hurdles and inadequate levels of training, it notes that while the event of VKP-2 was quite remarkable for its work on computer networks, time-sharing, and intra-Soviet computing collaboration, it did very little to reverse the tides of the Soviet computing gap ahead of the release of the Soviet Unified Computing System in 1973.