Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

This essay discusses possible intellectual contributions of the Scandinavian IS research traditions to the future of IS as a discipline. It suggests that the infological problems identified by Langefors still capture much of the essence of IS as a discipline of computing. The essay also revisits the infological equation, showing its continued relevance in the field. Finally, it discusses some trends in ISD.

A position controller with integral action suppresses the output error caused by a constant load. It also provides the system with the capability of tracking the constant slope profile without an error. In this chapter, the controller structure and parameter setting are considered for linear operating mode. The ability of the system to track the reference trajectory is discussed. The impact of the controller structure and the trajectory properties is evaluated. For the operation with large input disturbances, where the torque and speed limits of the system are reached, a nonlinear modification of the discrete-time position controller is proposed, providing a robust, aperiodic, and time-optimal response to large disturbances.

This paper gives an overview of the computer applications, hardware and software, that were essential in the rapid development of ship technology during the sixties and seventies and the subsequent development of offshore oil technology.

Autokon, a CAD/CAM system for ships, was one of the most important early Norwegian applications. We describe the background for the Autokon project and its results. We will specifically follow three technology threads that we have called , where the last one includes distribution and component based architectures. An important part of the Autokon background is the history of the earliest computers in Britain and Norway. We therefore start with a brief history of computing

NORDUNET began as an informal cooperation between Nordic “networkers” in 1980. With support from the Nordic Council of Ministers, a NORDUNET project for a common Nordic academic network began in 1985. Mats Brunell (Sweden) and Einar Løvdal (Norway) led the work. Originally based on existing interim services of EARN, DECnet and ISO OSI support, lack of services led to complete reorientation in 1987. With bridges running Ethernet over slow lines, a Nordic-wide Ethernet connecting major nodes in the countries linked national Ethernets to a common node at KTH, Stockholm. The major services of the time, X.25, EARN and RSCS, DECnet, and TCP/IP, were connected in through switches, bridges and routers called “the NORDUNET plug”. The operational network NORDUnet, a first international multi-protocol network, began services in 1988 and officially opened in 1989. Major links to the US NSFnet and European networks connected to the KTH node. The project had a strong impact on Nordic networking competence that influenced the European move to TCP/IP services in opposition to the prevailing adherence (politically supported) to ISO OSI. Over time, TCP/IP won the “protocol war”. The early introduction of TCP/IP gave the Nordic area a head start in internet penetration, still reflected in the countries being in the front of public use of the internet. A major lesson was the success of Nordic cooperation on all levels, through sharing of responsibilities, joint development of competence and creation of enthusiasm. NORDUnet is today owned by the national ministries, run through cooperation by the national networks, and able to supply the Nordic academic internet with exceptionally cost-effective bandwidth to all major international networks such as Startap and Geant.

There were few women in the early days of computing. Why was this so? Who were the female pioneers in higher education in the area of Information processing? How were women represented in higher education? What was it like to be a female academic student in those days? Has the situation changed?

Technical progress was for a long time uncontroversial in the Scandinavian left and labor movements. World events like the American war in Vietnam and a new Zeitgeist changed this at the end of the sixties and politically aware computer enthusiasts started seeing computers in a new light. Three themes were central in the Swedish discussion: the IBM hegemony, computers, personal privacy, and the threat to democratic development by a changed balance of power. Swedish debate at the time is from a personal point of view.

Oulu has been a place for business and export industry in Northern Finland. In the 1970s began a difficult period of recession. Then, declining and unemployment-ridden Oulu seemed unexpectedly to start to boom. High technology products were being produced in the city and these products were sold more and more in international market. The main contribution of the paper is to provide a more thorough view of the multi-scientific expertise apparent in the gradual building of the growth base of the’ Oulu phenomenon’. The analysis shows the crucial role of system-theoretical and software-oriented expertise and complements earlier views.

The Univac 1107 computer installation at The Norwegian Computing Center (NR) from the summer of 1963 was an important asset for Scandinavian research and industry that also set the ground for object-oriented programming. The key to many of the successful computer systems and applications created during the years that followed, was that NR at a very early moment in the history of modern computing, managed to acquire the most suitable computer for these developments and establish a fruitful user community around it. The unwinding of the installation during 1969/70 led to a strong conflict that began as an internal dispute between the employees of NR and its managing director, and ended as an open struggle between NR and the Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (NTNF) and to subsequent changes in the research organization of Norway.

The paper concerns the Alwac and Wegematic computer usage in the Nordic countries focussing on the Southern Finnish town of Turku. This topic has received little academic attention and frequently forgotten. In the paper, we examine the actions that the two universities and involved companies in the Turku region took after they had accepted the donation of a Wegematic 1000 computer. We argue that the Turku Computing Centre, created in 1960, firstly made an effort to combine scientific and educational aspects and commercial service in its activity and, secondly, participated in and benefited from establishing Nordic co-operation among the users of Wegematic computers. Therefore, we conclude that this Wegematic story is important for understanding the early phases of computerisation in Finland, at least outside the capital region of the country. We suggest the same could be true in Sweden and Norway. Further, we suggest that other Wegematic stories might be worth studying to improve our understanding of the Nordic trans-local interaction in early computing. Finally, we suggest applying a comparative method for these future studies.