Nation-wide automated system (OGAS) of the USSR

Tell that Glushkov's project was ambitious, means not to tell anything. In fact, complete upgrade of the Soviet planned economy, creation of some kind of "neural network" was offered (on the basis of the operating telephone networks) which not only connected by itself all objects of the national economy, but also was capable to make management decisions on the basis of the State Planning Committee^[1].

Technology OGAS represented a hierarchical three-level pyramid: the main computer center in Moscow integrated two hundred similar centers in all large cities of the Union, and those, in turn, connected 20,000 more terminals of the bottom level distributed on key objects of the national economy.

At the same time the network provided a possibility of multiple parallel communications that, on the one hand, many times increased mobility and efficiency of the Soviet economy, and with another – leveled bulkiness of its bureaucratic machinery. In general, at the heart of OGAS as it is possible to see, Winer or A.I. Kitov's ideas whose pupil Glushkov, how many the idea of A. Bogdanov, the inventor of science of a tektologiya and the author of the eponymous book (with which also R. Winer was undoubtedly familiar) considered himself lay not so much.

The ambitious project had to cover the most part of the Eurasian continent, having become this neural rule integrating all enterprises of planned economy. Using this system heavyweight "the fundamentals of the centralized economy – quotas, plans and collections of industry standards – had to turn into the flash-like neural network of the nation movable by the improbable speed of electricity", – the prof. Benjamin Peters, the author of the book "Writes how not to entangle network the country: Difficult history of the Soviet Internet" (Benjamin Peters, "How Not to Network a Nation. The Uneasy History of the Soviet Internet". 2016).

A system allowed not only to control online any point of huge Soviet economy, but also to instantly make decisions, modeling all changes and predicting all problems before they arise. "It is clear that in such situation the human factor was minimized, and the economy became transparent and fair", – the same American author notices.

In a word, OGAS was, in fact, the new plan of GOELRO 2.0 on a new round of development of the country. The system of artificial intelligence till the birth of the era of AI. And farther dreams of Glushkov stretched to creation of electronic currency, the subsequent canceling of money and creation of communistic affluent society.

And in February of the 1964th Glushkov submitted the project to Khrushchev. But … It in the 1948th the director of Institute of mathematics Lavrentyev could write to Stalin the letter on computer perspectives – and in read months there was an Institute of ADP equipment in Moscow. The aging party bosses of time of Glushkov were not ready to revolutionary breaks. The project was opposed at once by the Central Statistical Office (which reporting OGAS did completely transparent) and the State Planning Committee.

However in 1966 the Americans start the outline sketch of an information network, and in the 1969th ARPANET as the government communication network of military purpose (prototype of future Internet), joins in an operating mode. The USSR took alarm and again remembered about OGAS. But by this time also Americans understood huge perspectives of the system of Glushkov allowing to manage in the conditions of the Soviet centralized system all economy from the uniform center. And, having realized danger, took unprecedented steps for discredit of the academician and his ideas.

"The punched card manages the Kremlin" – the editorial of The Washington Post under this sensational heading (belonging to Victor Zorzy's feather, one of "children of thaw" of comrade Ehrenburg) laid down on tables to the Soviet heads. And, speak, the threat of substitution of the Politburo of "the electronic government" made a great impression on them. Other article of English The Guardian explaining that Glushkov's project will allow to have total shadowed each person in the country was broadcast tirelessly by "friendly radio voices", frightening the Soviet intellectuals.

Soon also the Soviet press, by then firmly captured by children of "generation of thaw" was connected. The head of department of Institute of the USA and Canada comrade B. Milner authoritatively said in Izvestia that Americans refuse ADP equipment which would demand changes of all management system and that this experience should be considered also to us.

"Since 1964 scientists-economists began to oppose openly me, many of which went then to the USA and Israel", – Glushkov wrote in the memoirs. Glushkov perfectly realized not only grandness of the intention, but also its complexity exceeding complexity of space and nuclear programs combined. He estimated the estimated cost of all project at enormous for those times to 20 billion rubles. Promising to bring, however, for three five-years periods of program implementation in the budget not less than 100 billion. But "our unfortunate economists confused Kosygin. Us set aside aside, began to be wary" – he wrote.

On October 1 the 1970th, at Glushkov's meeting with ministers in the Kremlin, the OGAS project (first of all by efforts of the Minister of Finance Garbuzov) was rejected.

The history of creation of a computer in the USSR

Main article: The history of creation of a computer in the USSR

ARPANET

Main article: ARPANET

As the USA spied on production of chips in the USSR

Main article: As the USA spied on production of chips in the USSR

Notes