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The witness seminar ”Standardekonomisystem för stordatorer – EPOK, EPOS och FACTS, 1969–1986” [Standard accounting information systems for mainframe computers – EPOK, EPOS and FACTS, 1969–1986] took place at The National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm on 29 January 2008 and was led by Gunnar Hesse. In the early years of computing accounting information systems were tailor-made for each customer. In the early 1970s increased demand for financial knowledge coincided with new capabilities in database technology and the first standard applications appeared on the Swedish market. On the basis of the successful service bureau system Bore, IBM Sweden developed FACTS, launched in 1975 and later rebranded FMS for the international market. The second standard accounting information system to appear in Sweden was EPOS, developed by the consultancy RIAB in co-operation with the Swedish association of slaughterhouses and sold in the market from 1976. The third system, EPOK, was developed by the computing division of the building materials group Euroc by a group of controllers and computer technicians in close cooperation and marketed externally from 1977. A fourth actor represented in the seminar was the IT consultancy WM-data, which after a short attempt at in-house development settled in 1981 for importing American accounting systems to support their consulting business. Differences in systems design, customer orientation and business strategy were discussed at length. It was concluded that while the initial software development was very successful, all providers ran into a similar set of limitations of the market: the small number of companies capable of investing in a mainframe computer system, the divergent business interests and business cultures of different actors, the lack of de facto standardization because of customization of systems and a wide range of technical platforms, and the difficulty of expanding abroad in a fragmented market.

The witness seminar ”The introduction of bar codes in Sweden” took place at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm on 22 October 2008 and was led by Gustav Sjöblom. The definition and implementation of EAN – a European standard for the identification and printing of unique article numbers – was a major innovation in the wholesale and retail trade, which led to substantial rationalization and revolutionized the generation and usage of sales data for ordering, marketing etc. The seminar panel was composed of three members of the Swedish and European EAN committees (representing suppliers and trade respectively); representatives of four major Swedish chains (ICA Essve, Åhléns, KF, and Dagab); and one supplier of cash registers (ADS Anker). The seminar was divided into two parts, the first dealing with the period from the initiation of European negotiations on the definition of the EAN code structure in 1973, to the signing in 1977 of the Swedish agreement between the suppliers’ organization DLF and the major chains. The theme of the second half was the implementation of EAN codes in actual practice, including manufacturers printing the EAN symbol on the packages and the supermarket chains installing equipment for reading and data capture. The EAN code was introduced in a few stores in 1981 and spread rapidly so that retailing in practice could be based on EAN from c. 1983.

The witness seminar ”Systemutveckling och långtidsplanering vid SAS Data i Stockholm, 1964–1982” [Systems development and long-range planning at SAS Data Services in Stockholm, 1964–1982] took place at Tekniska museet [The National Museum of Science and Technology] in Stockholm on 5 December 2007 and was led by Gustav Sjöblom. SAS was a pioneer in advanced computer systems development, beginning with the development of the reservations system in Copenhagen in the late 1950s. Computer systems development was initially carried out in the individual departments of SAS, but in 1963–64 SAS Data Services was established as a separate department directly under the CEO – rather than as a part of the financial department which was customary at the time – by bringing in staff with experience of rationalisation and computing from different departments within SAS. SAS Data Services was geographically divided with major offices in Copenhagen and Stockholm and a smaller office in Oslo. The theme of the witness seminar was the work carried out in Stockholm, where the department initially specialized in systems development and long-range planning, while operations and programming was based in Copenhagen. The Stockholm group soon embarked upon an ambitious and holistic plan for improving SAS operations by means of a large number of integrated computer systems such as MATS for Material Supply and Inventory Control, MOPS for Maintenance Overhaul and Planning, RES for Reservations, LOCS for Load Control and Planning and OPS for Operational Planning and Control. Although the individual systems were cutting-edge and considerable in size, what made SAS stand out was the consistency in systems planning and the integration of different systems into a long-range plan and into the core of SAS business management.

The witness seminar ”The computerization of the department stores” took place at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm on 29 September 2008 and was led by Gustav Sjöblom. The panel was composed of representatives of four major Swedish department store chains (Turitz & Co, Åhléns, KF, and IKEA) as well as representatives of two suppliers of cash registers (IBM and ADS Anker). The seminar was divided into two parts, the first dealing with the initial period up to c. 1975, when mainframe computers were introduced to rationalize back office functions such as ordering, invoicing and the production of documents. The second part dealt with the development from the early 1970s, when computers were introduced into the stores. Turitz was an early and successful user of order systems and direct measurement at the counter. Åhléns was a pioneer in OCR-reading and the use of in-house terminals for ordering, which was deemed so successful that the computerization of the checkouts was delayed until the 1980s. KF appointed a group to deal with the department stores from 1968 and began full-scale computerization with the KAP system for furniture sales in 1975. IKEA was a late starter in the use of computers, but had a rapid and successful systems development from c. 1968, culminating in the KTS system developed between 1975 and 1977.

The witness seminar ”The rise and expansion of IT consulting, 1964–1985” took place at The National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm on 1 April 2008 and was led by Gunnar Hesse. The panel consisted of representatives of many of the pioneers in Swedish IT consulting, including Lars Irstad, who founded the industry leader Programator in 1964; Lars Spångberg who founded RIAB as an offshoot of the Federation of Swedish Industry in 1968; Thord Wilkne, one of two founders of WM-data in 1969; Göran Garvner who founded Modulföretagen in 1972; Per Olof Persson, a leading figure in Statskonsult, the state-owned firm that was the biggest IT consultancy in Sweden in the 1970s; Kaj Green, the first CEO of Cap Gemini Sweden; Leif Nobel, CEO of Data Logic from 1979, and Hans G. Wahlberg, one of the founders of Enator in 1977. The seminar was divided in three parts. The first dealt with the period of early entrepreneurship up to c. 1975. It was agreed that there was no shortage of demand for consulting services and that the main challenge consisted in recruiting skilled personnel and managing them. The second part dealt with the expansion that set in from the mid-1970s. Here it was agreed that the management of knowledge workers still constituted the single biggest challenge, followed by the need to establish consistency in method. At this point a divergence in business strategy can be seen. WM-data became a provider of American standard applications in order to tie the customer base more tightly. Programator were successful in the minicomputing market and established joint ventures with several large companies, in effect taking over their IT departments. Enator moved up the value chain and aimed at integrating management consulting and IT consulting. By 1985 all the major companies were listed at the stock exchange and the industry may be described as well-established.

The witness seminar ”The computerization of the everyday commodity trade before 1985” took place at The National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm on 20 October 2008 and was led by Roland Fahlin. The panel was composed of representatives of the three major Swedish supermarket chains (ICA – represented here by ICA Eol and ICA Hakon – KF and Dagab) as well as the department store chain Åhléns, together with representatives of three suppliers of cash registers (IBM, ADS Anker and Hugin). The seminar was divided into two parts, the first dealing with the period up to the mid-1970s, when mainframe computers were introduced to rationalize back office functions such as ordering, invoicing and the production of documents. The second part dealt with the development from 1975, when computers were introduced into the stores.

The witness seminar ”Standardisation and integration of computer systems in the freight transport industry, 1970–1985” took place at Flygfältsbyrån in Göteborg on 11 March 2008 and was led by Anders Svedberg. The panel consisted of providers of transport services (shipping, forwarding) as well as their customers (mainly Volvo) and representatives of academia and the Göteborg region. The seminar dealt with the rise of information systems in the transport business from a user perspective. The discussion centred on the difficulty of coordination and standardization in a business which needs to integrate a large number of actors with divergent interests. The computerization strategies of the two leading Göteborg shipping companies, Broströms and Transatlantic, were discussed in some detail, as was Volvo’s efforts to integrate the information systems in their supply chain A main theme was that logistical visions and the availability of information technology solutions were often out of step, the one sometimes being ahead of the other with interchanging roles over time. A second theme was the existence of practical obstacles to the implementation of open or integrated computer systems, or more generally to advanced logistical solutions: business strategies which often favoured unique solutions, lack of coordination, and a shortage of funds in a business which generally was not highly profitable. It was nevertheless concluded that as a result of a farsighted perspective among sellers and buyers of transport, academic experts and the public authorities, Sweden in general and the Göteborg region in particular, acquired a leading position in the development of materials administration and logistics and the concomitant information systems as well as education in these fields.

This publication is a commented transcript of a witness seminar in February 2010 within the research project ”The Swedish digital wonder in the advertising industry”. The purpose of the seminar, which was open to the public, was to document the shifting boundaries between the advertising, media, and information technology industries in the wake of the breakthrough of the Internet from the mid-1990s. We invited six persons, who at that time were centrally placed in these industries, to share their reminiscences and comment on testimonies of the other participants. The seminar was moderated by two researchers in the project. The transcript has been edited prudently in order to improve the readability while preserving the colloquial character. We have moreover provided the transcript with explanatory footnotes and a short introduction. The purpose of publishing the transcript in this series is twofold: to create an oral history source and make it accessible, but also to introduce the witness seminar as an historical documentation method in economic history and business history.