Computer Engineering'68
The NJSZT conference, organized under the umbrella of AIOT. The conference and exhibition were followed by two more conferences with a similar name, every three years. From 1977, the conference series became international and continued under the name Comnet.
The EMG 830 and the TPA were presented at the conference.
- AIOT Computer Engineering Department
- Tibor Szentiványi, Béla Tóth, Gyula Vágner. - Main organizers
- Csaba Gergely, Lajos Ivanyos, Győző Kovács, József Lukács, László Ungvári - Also participated in the organization
Publication details: Publication in 2 volumes. Esztergom, 1968. 286. and 578. pp. Edited by: Tibor Szentiványi. Can be found in the NJSZT Library (iTA/367). A report on the Conference was written by Antal Kmety in Információ Elektroniká (1968/4)
This is how Pál Németh remembers the conference and exhibition in 2018.
At the end of September 1968 (09.23-26.), the MTESZ Automation, Information Processing and Operations Research Council (AIOT) organized the first comprehensive computer technology exhibition (Computer Technology'68) and conference in Esztergom, in the MÉMOSZ cultural hall and the special rooms of the Fürdő Hotel. A significant number of companies and institutions with independent computer technology products participated in the exhibition, while the conference speakers represented the domestic computer technology development, manufacturing and application profession very well.
Minister Árpád Kiss, Chairman of the National Technical Development Committee, opened the conference and outlined the development opportunities of the profession in Hungary in light of the latest initiatives, the Hungarian-French intergovernmental cooperation agreement on electronics and computer technology, and the then-launched development cooperation between socialist countries (ESZR) proposed by Soviet Prime Minister Koszygin. Rezső Tarján, an outstanding and versatile pioneer of computer technology, gave a plenary lecture entitled The Development Directions of Computers, after which various experts reported on their latest work, plans, and ideas.
Hungarian conferences are not usually characterized by the fact that the presentations are discussed in detail publicly or in smaller groups. No large public debates took place in Esztergom either. Instead, groups gathered and heated discussions, debates, and speculations began about the new opportunities mentioned by Árpád Kiss, their professional, institutional, and possible personal consequences. The discussions raised the question of what would happen to the EMG 830 computer presented there, in addition to the licensed production of small computers involving large central expenditures, not to mention the fact that the feasibility of developments based on smaller financial resources could thus become debatable, and it is probable that central resources will cease to exist in this area. The subject of debate was also who would have what role in this new program, who would be the winners and who would be the possible losers. The aforementioned ESZR cooperation was also the subject of similar discussions. Many of the experts who also participated in the conference were members of the expert delegations that held discussions on this subject in the Soviet Union during the summer. They said that no final decisions had yet been made on the technical-functional issue, and that, according to their knowledge, these would be clarified by the end of the year. It was discussed that the country would be represented in the highest – so-called intergovernmental – committee by János Sebestyén, the general deputy chairman of the OMFB, while the technical steering body, the chief designer’s council, would be headed by Zsolt Náray, under whose leadership a new institute would be established to carry out coordination tasks (SZKI). Other issues that were also not included in the conference program also deeply concerned the participants. Our colleague Tibor Szentiványi approached every discussion group, or even a colleague who was hanging out alone, with great ambition and enthusiasm and introduced them to the concept of a professional society to be established and asked the participants to support this idea, give ideas for the development of the society's activities, and also to indicate in writing their intention to join the society named after Neumann János. Many of us did this. This is what became the NJSZT!
In addition to – and to a certain extent above – the announced professional program, the new proposals signaled the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.