(Chile) Cybernetic

Appendix 2: Timeline on Computing and the Chilean State (1927-1964) 1927 Carlos Ibaiiez del Campo is elected president with 96% of the vote. Chile imports 29 card-punching, sorting, and other tabulating machines from the United States. 1929 IBM opens its first Chilean branch office in downtown Santiago with 2 employees. Wall Street crashes and the Great Depression begins. Chile's central public administration has 30,147 employees. 1930 First national population census using Hollerith tabulating machines. 1931 Ibahez resigns, Chile slides into political disarray. 1932 Six different governments come to power, including Chile's first "Socialist Republic." Arturo Alessandri elected president. His victory is a win for the center-right Liberal Alliance, a coalition of Radicals, Democrats, and Liberals. Once in office he introduces policies that spur local production to pull Chile out of the Depression. To do this, he increases the level of state intervention in the economy. He raises tariffs, introduces import licenses, and rations foreign exchange, among other measures. The number of Chilean factories doubles during his presidency and the size of the workforce in the manufacturing sector nearly doubles. The heightened role of the state in the national economy will provide another reason for the expansion of Chilean public administration. 1933 IBM has 20 employees in Chile. 1935 Chile's public administration has 41,266 employees. Chile imports 30 card-punching, sorting, and other tabulating machines from the United States. 1938 Pedro Aguirre Cerda elected president from the center-left Popular Front coalition. He and his supporters believe the state should play an even larger role in stimulating economic growth. 1939 A massive earthquake hits the southern cities of Concepcion and Chilian. The government proposes the creation of two new agencies to assist with earthquake relief: the Relief and Reconstruction Corporation, which would rebuild areas most affected by the earthquake, and the State Development Corporation (CORFO), charged Appendix 2 with directing national economic activities. CORFO becomes an instrument for the state to intervene in the Chilean economy. IBM has 70 employees in Chile. 1940 The U.S. Export-Import Bank gives CORFO $17 million in credits for the purchase of machinery, materials, and technical assistance from the United States. The govern ment decision to use external financing for CORFO, rather than internal financing through taxation, increases U.S. influence in the Chilean economy. 1941 Chile's public administration has 49,538 employees, with 17,355 in social and educa tional administration and 2,812 in economic and financial administration. 1942 Juan Antonio Rios is elected president. He dies during his fourth year in office. 1945 Chile imports 82 card-punching, sorting, or other tabulating machines from the United States. 1946 Gabriel Gonzalez Videla is elected president. Although he is elected by a coalition of Radicals, Communists, and Liberals, he is eventually pushed by the United States to move against the Communist Party and pass economic policies that favor Chilean private investors and U.S. business interests. 1948 GonzMez Videla passes the Law for the Permanent Defense of Democracy, which out laws the Communist Party and eliminates 30,000 voters from Chilean voter registries. The law will remain in effect until 1958. 1949 IBM makes IBM Chile part of its IBM World Trade subsidiary. Thomas Watson Sr., president of IBM, visits Chile and lunches with President Gonzalez Videla. Chile's central public administration has 68,225 employees, with 25,483 in social and educational administration and 8,415 in economic and financial administration. 1951 Chile's public administration has 70,882 employees, with 27,536 in social and educa tional administration and 8,797 in economic and financial administration. 1952 Carlos Ibahez del Campo elected to the presidency for a second time. He runs as an in dependent, promising to end corruption, clean house, and create a technocratic state that values expertise over political affiliation. Political affiliation is not a consideration in his appointments to government posts. Chile's central public administration has 75,542 employees, with 28,899 in social and educational administration and 11,302 in economic and financial administration. 1956 The annual rate of inflation hits 86^M). The U.S. consulting firm of Klein-Saks imple ments an economic stabilization program that cuts government expenditures, including subsidies for public services, implements wage controls, and removes price controls. These policies cut Chilean purchasing power and make life more difficult for Chilean workers and salaried white-collar employees. IBM Chile has more than 100 employees. 1957 The National Petroleum Company (ENAP) installs IBM Unit Record Machines in Patagonia. 1958 Jorge Alessandri is elected president. He does not affiliate himself with a political party but appeals to a conservative base. He believes that the state should intervene less in rk Timeline on Computing and the Chilean State 239 the national economy, and his government tî and make it more efficient. initial steps to study the bureaucracy 1959 University of Chile acquires a Standard ElertHr^ t that reads data on yellow tape. ^ G^ân electronic computer Chile's central public administration has 9i 7^^ - , educational adminia.ra.lon and 17,775 l„ e:!„ """ -r- f 4-\ \A' • and financial administration. 1960 The Budget Office of the Ministry of Finanrp tion and^ tprhninimQ methods ntechniques ^ • forms andOCOM improve to introduce thp f, •organiza i_i- ^ to o^ro , fonctioning of Chilean public ad ministration. OCOM is to importationoversee and the government imnortpf use ofr tabulatingw i rr machinery. The sttonges, earthquake on record. 9.5 „„ ,h, of Valdivia. IBM Chile moves to a high rise in downtown Santiago 1962 Chile begins to acquire electronic computers. The Customs Office, treasury, and air force ail acquire IBM 1401 machines. The private sector will not acquire any IBM 1 4 0 1 s u n t i l 1 9 6 3 . 1963 Chile's central public administration has 103,151 employees, with 44,459 in social and educational administration and 15,850 in economic and financial administration. The State Railroad Company (Ferrocarriles del Estado) and the Pacific Steel Company (CAP) acquire IBM 1401 machines. The Catholic University purchases an IBM 1620 for teaching and research. 1964 IBM announces its new System/360. Eduardo Frei Montalva is elected president on a platform of a "revolution in liberty." Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce, Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1923-1946); "Hablan los precursores," IBM Didlogo (1987): 4-5; Germ.an Urzua Valenzuela and Ana Maria Garcia Barzelatto, Diagnostico de la burocracia chilena (1818-1969) (Santiago, Chile: Editorial Jundica de Chile, 1971). Central public administration statistics do not include the number of Chileans in the armed forces or in semiau- tonomous national enterprises such as the National Electric Corporation, the Pacific Steel Corpo ration, and the National Oil Corporation..

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