Project Cybersyn

The Cybersyn project was during the government of Salvador Allende (1970-1973), a Chilean attempt to control the centrally planned economy in real time by computer. Essentially, it was a teletype network that linked factories with a central computer in Santiago. This they controlled according to the principles of connectionism. The main architect of the system was the British company researchers Stafford Beer.

History

In July 1971, the idea to Cybersyn was developed by the former Chilean finance minister Fernando Flores. He asked Stafford Beer for help, the Chilean economy to organize under this new approach and control. Beer complied - so he could test his approach under real conditions and evolve.

For a year, was built on Cybersyn, but it was never completely finished.

The greatest benefit brought the system in October 1972, when approximately 50,000 hauliers blockaded the streets of Santiago. By Telegraph it was the government able to coordinate the transport of food in the city with about 200 pro-government trucks. It is noteworthy that in this case the actual Cybersyn core program was not used, but the logistics communicate with each other rushed over the teletype network to capacity and tours. Later Flores and Espejo saw in this communication pattern one of the first approaches of today's Internet - which was so intended. Nevertheless, it is now called socialist internet. The Cybersyn system provided via the telegraph based network topology and a first groupware in the application layer dar.

Shortly after the military coup on September 11, 1973, the control center was destroyed.

The system

There were 400 unused by the previous government purchased Telegraph, which were distributed to the factories of the country. In the control center in Santiago the data ( seven different indicators such as material consumption, production and number of missed work appearing ) who came daily from the factories were entered 360/50 mainframe to an IBM, the short-term forecasts calculated and necessary votes undertook.

There were four control levels (company, branch, sector, total ), based on the Algedonischen loop. If a lower level of control could not resolve the problem in a certain time, the next level has been notified. The results were discussed in the transaction space, and create a plan at the highest level. In the software, so reinforcing and weakening communication elements should represent a third way, a more equitable response to the existing planned economies of Cuba and the Soviet Union.

The software for Cybersyn was called Cyberstrider, using Bayesian filtering and Bayesian control flow. It was written by a team of twelve British programmers. Even after the end of the project, this software has been developed and came in 1985 under the name Coordinator commercially on the market. Later, the program has been sold to Novell.

The futuristic transaction space was designed by a team under the direction of the interface designer Gui Bonsiepe. He was equipped with seven swivel chairs ( which were thought they were conducive to creativity ) with buttons that should control several large screens on which data and other elements were displayed with state variables. From the room, however, only a mock-up was created.

The project is in Beers Book Platform for Change ( in the other social innovations such as the onset of stakeholders from diverse groups are described in the Control Panel ) and Eden Medina Cybernetic Revolutionaries (MIT Press, 2011 ) in more detail.

The total cost of the project were estimated by Raul Espejo with approximately $ 150,000 (as of 1973).