Computing and Democracy: the Origins of the FIB (1974-1976)

Few Fibers know the difficult and convulsing circumstances that ended in 1977 with the creation of our centre. In recent years, our colleague, Jordi Fornés, from the Department of Computer Architecture, has worked extensively in a doctoral thesis focusing on those historical moments, a thesis recently defended in the Doctorate Program in History of Science of the UAB, and which has produced several international papers, two of which are in the prestigious journal IEEE The Annals of History of Computing. After interviewing the main protagonists of that story, analyzing a lot of documentation, even discovering some unpublished orginals, Fornés's thesis has put "informatic" light on those moments of transition to democracy, political and also at the university. His work illuminates especially the circumstances that allowed the conception and creation of the FIB, as a result of a revolt, against the criteria imposed by the Franco Ministry of Education of the time, by a group of computing professionals organized through the ATI association. A good "movie story" that largely explains the different character of the FIB since its inception, and that all FIBers should know.

At the beginning of the ceremony there will be words of memory and homage by colleagues Nacho Navarro and Tomàs Lang, professors who were from the Department of AC and who recently left us.

Remember, the event will take place in the Sala de Actos Manuel Martí Recober of the FIB, on Wednesday, June 6th, at 12:00 h.

Check all the activities of the 40th anniversary of the FIB here.