After World War II, other major industrialized nations responded to the                  technological and industrial hegemony of the United States by developing their own                  design and manufacturing competence in digital electronic technology. In this book                  John Vardalas describes the quest for such competence in Canada, exploring the                  significant contributions of the civilian sector but emphasizing the role of the                  Canadian military in shaping radical technological change. As he shows, Canada's                  determination to be an active participant in research and development work on                  advanced weapons systems, and in the testing of those weapons systems, was a                  cornerstone of Canadian technological development during the years                  1945-1980.Vardalas presents case studies of such firms as Ferranti-Canada, Sperry                  Gyroscope of Canada, and Control Data of Canada. In contrast to the standard                  nationalist interpretation of Canadian subsidiaries of transnational corporations as                  passive agents, he shows them to have been remarkably innovative and explains how                  their aggressive programs to develop all-Canadian digital R&D and manufacturing                  capacities influenced technological development in the United States and in Great                  Britain.While underlining the unprecedented role of the military in the creation of                  peacetime scientific and technical skills, Vardalas also examines the role of                  government and university research programs, including Canada's first computerized                  systems for mail sorting and airline reservations. Overall, he presents a nuanced                  account of how national economic, political, and corporate forces influenced the                  content, extent, and direction of digital innovation in Canada.

The Computer Revolution in Canada: Building National Technological Competence (History of Computing) PDF

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