Perestroika and parallelism: advanced information technology and the soviet union

This paper begins by examining the history of Soviet computer hardware and software development, in part seeking the roots of the persistent Soviet lag behind the West. Then some impressions of the current situation are given, based around visits to a leading Soviet research establishment, the Institute for Space Research. At that Institute and others. parallel architectures are being used to gain reasonable computing power from what is by contemporary Western standards mediocre hardware. Impressive expertise, particularly in software development, is to be found, but it is still operating under constraints, such as difficult access to Western technology and technologists. In the last section of the paper it is argued that it is now in the interests of both East and West to ease that access. Improving and diffusing Soviet information technology is a key goal of the process of perestroika (restructuring). Cooperation with, rather than hostility to, Soviet efforts in information technology now makes sense for the West, especially Europe, because of the possibilities for mutually beneficial trade and also because we should wish perestroika to succeed.