Entre burocratas e especialistas : a formação e o controle do campo da informática no Brasil (1958-1979)

Abstract

The present study analyzes the activities of three State institutions of the Brazilian Computer Science field from 1958 to 1979 – the Work Group on the Application of Computers (GTAC – Grupo de Trabalho sobre Aplicação de Computadores) / the Executive Group for the Application of Electronic Computers (GEACE – Grupo Executivo para Aplicação de Computadores Eletrônicos) and the Coordinating Comission of the Activities of Electronic Processing (CAPRE – Comissão de Coordenação das Atividades de Processamento Eletrônico). The three institutions represented different periods of the formation of the national Computer Science field and conducted a series of actions to control and promote activities, which encompassed from the rationalization of computer resources and the formation of workforce to the coordination of the emerging national industry of computers and peripheral devices. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the activities carried out by these organizations in order to identify their procedures and discuss their “efficiency” at promoting Computer Science in the country. In this regard, we will identify the technicians involved in this process and the techno political actions based on their expertise, as well as their capacity of social integration and ability to establish a support network. Over the chapters, we will present some of these actions, such as the attempt to constitute a Government Data Center in 1959 and the incentive/control over the first computer technology industries in the country.