Pre-Internet Networks: OGAS - The National
Automated System for Computation and Information
Processing
Season 1, Episode 2
February 15, 2022
Link →
Ana and Camila chat about the development of a Soviet
nationwide information network in the 60s that was meant
to run a planned economy for the USSR. Built after
Sputnik’s launch, it brought about Soviet cybernetics
and promised a new era for Soviet sciences, mathematics
economics and technology. Discussing the project’s
termination due to inner-bureaucratic competition, this
episode also looks at ARPANET’s simultaneous
development; its surprisingly socialist structures of
funding and collaborative mindsets that led to its
success.
Main research by Ana.
References
“How Not to Network a Nation: The Uneasy
History of the Soviet Internet”, Benjamin
Peters, 2016
“Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces
That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration”, Ed
Catmull, 2014
“The Californian Ideology”, Richard Barbrook and
Andy Cameron, 1995