Technology vs. Political conflict – how networks penetrate the iron curtain

Abstract

In July 1977, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) near Vienna organized an experimental data transmission line. This paper investigates this experimental data transmission line focusing on three aspects: first of all IIASA was an important location for Eastern and Western scientists for working with each other, secondly the team of computer specialists creating the network was remarkable, and finally the concept of combining computer technology with science cooperation and information transfer was very advanced in the 1970s.