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Sverige är ett ledande it-land. Grunden till denna ställning lades redan under 1950-, 60- och 70-talen. Den tidens datorer var så stora och dyra att bara mycket resursstarka organisationer kunde skaffa dem: Försvarsmakten, storföretagen och statliga myndigheter. De var maktens maskiner. Stordatorer användes bland annat för att leda stridsflygplan, effektivisera verkstadsproduktion och övervaka landets tågtrafik och kraftsystem. Men också för att hjälpa staten dra in skatter i ett alltmer komplext skattesystem och betala ut nya former av sociala bidrag. Skräddarsydda datorsystem utvecklades för de olika tillämpningarna i ett nära samarbete mellan dataspecialister och specialister på användningsområdena. Datorernas genomslag på allt fler områden väckte även kritik och debatter om integritet, sårbarhet och arbetslivets utarmning. Bokens författare skildrar denna mångfacetterade historia utifrån ett unikt källmaterial och intervjuer med inblandade experter. Vi får bekanta oss med matematikmaskinen Besk, Aseas industrirobotar, försvarets stridsledningssystem och mycket annat som var beroende av avancerad datakraft. Boken ger insikter om det datoriserade samhället, dess styrkor och risker, som är relevanta också idag., QC 20240605

This paper is a presentation of a research project that aims at writing the history of computing in Sweden in the mainframe age from a user perspective. Rather than beginning with the history of hardware, this project takes as its point of departure the way in which actors in different sectors of society used computer technology in order to achieve a higher degree of control over crucial processes, whether through electronic data processing systems, process control or technical/scientific computation., QC 20190613

This doctoral thesis presents a historical study of the development of the semi-automatic control and reporting system Stril 60 for the Swedish air force during the 1950s. The theoretical points of reference are taken from a literature on socio-technological systems combined with models of social networks and their importance to the development of society. In a wider and more general sense, the thesis also deals with the Swedish policy of neutrality during the cold war which is investigated from a history of science and technology perspective. Through an investigation of the establishment of the system, informal networks within the public administration which have contributed to the shaping of Swedish security policy beyond the official government rhetoric are reconstructed. The policy of neutrality gave rise to complicated and often informal structures of decision-making, especially concerning military relations with the western powers. Considerations and decisions which did not give rise to ordinary archive material, sometimes have left technological footprints which has made it possible to uncover important dimensions of the Swedish policy of neutrality through studying the military systems, their planning and actual structure. While official foreign policy aimed at creating an official image of Sweden and Swedish territory as a political and strategic free zone in the cold war, defense policy originated from the opposite scenario, namely that the possibilities not to take part in a new war in Europe was small and that the only possibility to escape defeat and occupation was to receive help from the western powers, which set the rules for Swedish war planning and military system building during the period., QC 20111205

In the late 1960s, the Swedish Defence Staff initiated the development of a computerized command and control system that was later to be known as the LEO-system. From the mid-1970s to 1989, more than two hundred million SEK were spent on the project, which involved private computer consultants and with military staff officers acting as project leaders and customers. In the end, however, only the intelligence application was introduced and put into operational use in the Swedish intelligence service during the 1990s. This paper will tell the story of the LEO-system and outline some of the reasons behind its failure. It is based on a witness seminar held at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm on January 15, 2008., QC 20130422

This paper is a presentation of a research project that aims at writing the history of computing in Sweden in the mainframe age from a user perspective. Rather than beginning with the history of hardware, this project takes as its point of departure the way in which actors in different sectors of society used computer technology in order to achieve a higher degree of control over crucial processes, whether through electronic data processing systems, process control or technical/scientific computation., QC 20160211

The witness seminar ”LEO: Computing and Operational Command in the Swedish Armed Forces, 1972–89” was held at the Armed Forces Headquarter in Stockholm on 15 January 2008 and was led by Göran Tode. During the seminar, the development of the computerized command system LEO was discussed. After a major reorganisation of command structure in the late 1960s, the defence staff decided to develop a computerized command system to help central and regional headquarters conduct wartime operations. Each headquarter was to have one terminal system, with a number of work stations, containing information about all aspects of the battlefield. Information about friendly and enemy forces, fuel and ammunition supplies was to be stored in a central data base and a secure messaging system was to provide fast and reliable communications. Additional applications were developed to handle computations and simulations of transports and mobilization. Different aspects of this development were discussed at the seminar. Limitations in computer graphics and presentation technology was observed as a major technological problem in the early phase of the project. Other problems brought up concerned the considerable passive resistence from users and senior commanders, when new computer technology was introduced in old organizational structures. In addition to this, security started to emerge as a critical problem in the early 1980s when highly classified information about war plans, communications and intelligence were concentrated into a single computer system. Measures to control access of information in the system and to guarantee electronic security were discussed and debated. Moreover, the decision in 1979 to purchase mainframe computers from Norsk Data was covered at the seminar. The development of tools and methodology for COBOL programming was mentioned. Finally, the implementation of the system in central and regional staff headquarters in the late 1980s was also discussed., QC 20130422