Anatoly Kitov and Victor Glushkov: Pioneers of Russian Digital Economy and Informatics

Abstract

Recent work in the history of computing published in English might lead scholars to believe that there was little worthwhile research in computers during the cold war in the USSR. This article is devoted to the history of the development of the digital economy and automated information systems for managing the national economy in the Soviet Union. This history shows that the Red Book and OGAS projects were not failures given their impact on the development of the digital economy in Russia. Particular attention is paid to the contribution of two great Soviet scientists, Anatoly Kitov and Victor Glushkov, to the development of the automation of the Soviet economy, as well as the works of computer pioneer V. M. Glushkov in the field of informatics and the information society, artificial intelligence systems, and the creation of computers. The international renown of these scholars and the continuing work of their students to develop their ideas shows that Kitov and Glushkov’s basic research had an important and lasting impact.