From Computing Machines to IT

The Museum participated in a project in 2007–2008 whose purpose was to document Sweden´s computer history and how our society came to be digitalized.

Sweden’s first computor, BESK.

The aim of the project was to document how computing has shaped and transformed the Swedish society, and for this purpose, it adopted a user-centered perspective on history of computing.

This was a joint project between the National Museum of Science and Technology, the Swedish Computer Society and the Department of History of Science and Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.The Swedish Computer Society was responsible for managing the project and was also contributing its nation-wide network of IT veterans, while the Royal Institute of Technology was responsible for the planning and implementation of the documentation processes, and scientific quality assurance.

Project funding

The Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs granted access funding for the project, which made it possible for the Museum to employ four graduates to work on the documentation of the Museum´s existing computer history collections, and to document the material that the Museum acquires during work on the project.

The project´s other financiers were the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Memorial Fund and the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, who together contributed SEK 6.6 million for the project.

The project was divided into focus groups who documented how IT has been used in various fields and areas within the community.

Final report

You can download the final report on the project From Computing Machines to IT.

Documenting the use of computers in Swedish society (661,14 KB)

Contact

Peter Du Rietz

Peter Du Rietz

Curator

+46 8 450 56 65

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Last updated 7 December 2021.