Spinning off and spinning on(?): the federal government role in the development of the US computer software industry

Abstract

The development of the US computer software industry has been powerfully influenced by federal government policy during the postwar period. Its importance for the demands of Cold War defense, especially strategic air defense during the 1950s, meant that the software industry received considerable support from federal R&D and procurement funding. But the very novelty of computer technology and software meant that a substantial portion of the defense-related spending in software was allocated to the creation of an infrastructure for the support of a new area of R&D, training, and technology development. From the earliest years of the postwar era, private industry has been responsible for a great deal of innovation in software; but by the late 1960s, these industrial innovations drew on research and manpower that had been generously supported by federal government funds. Our discussion of the federal role in the US software industry begins with a description of the earliest years of federal involvement in the U.S. computer industry, a period during which software scarcely existed as a distinguishable technology and focus of development effort. We then examine the federal role in supporting the emergence of computer science as an academic discipline, a discussion that spans 1955–1990. The concluding section summarizes our argument and suggests some points of contrast with the experience of other industrial economies.