Presentation of the Cybersyn Project

Desde 28/01/2008 06:01 hasta 28/01/2008 12:01

Proyecto Cybersyn 2

Catalina Ossa and Enrique Rivera will present the cybernetic project known as Cybersyn or Synco set up in Chile between 1971 and 1973 by British cyberneticist Stafford Beer. Planned as a communication network among State-owned companies during Salvador Allende’s administration, the project was cut short by the coup d'etat and never applied.

In 1971, while President Salvador Allende headed the government, an innovative cybernetic system was developed in Chile for information transfer and management. The project was called CYBERSYN, cybernetic synergy, or SYNCO, information and control system.
The system for the transfer of economic information with the government in “quasi” real time would be implemented in State-owned companies in Chile. After nationalizing and annexing various companies to the State, Allende’s government needed to coordinate all the information relating to the State-owned and recently nationalized companies. To do so, a dynamic, flexible information transfer system had to be created.

In 1970, Fernando Flores was appointed Technical Director General of CORFO (Production Development Corporation of Chile), in charge of the management and coordination among nationalized companies and the State. He was familiar with Stafford Beer's theories and proposed solutions from his days as an engineering student, as well as his professional experience working with SYGMA, Beer’s consultancy firm.
He and Raúl Espejo, who also worked at CORFO, wrote to Stafford Beer, inviting him to implement the VSM (the Viable System Model) in Chile. Beer had described the model in his book The Brain of the Firm, published in 1967, and accepted their invitation. In 1971, development on the project got underway.
After several months of development and significant breakthroughs, the project for a cybernetic government was approved by President Salvador Allende to be implemented at the Palacio La Moneda.

Unfortunately, due to the military overthrow on 11 September 1973, Cybersyn or Synco was never put into operation. One of the most advanced political and cybernetic projects in the world at the time was never put into practice.

 

Proyecto Cybersyn

Imagen del Archivo de Stafford Beer, Liverpool John Moores University

 

Place:
Medialab-Prado, Plaza de las Letras, Madrid

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Tags:
#jueves #debate #presentacion #mesa_redonda