The Search for Independence: Planning for France's Information Technology Autonomy, 1958-66

This article revises the traditional view that the 1966 U.S. embargo was the main motivation for Plan Calcul, France's first large-scale information technology program. The government-supported, nationwide program imitated the U.S. "state-industry" model of technological development during the Cold War arms race. French information technology archives and the literature help chart what actions and investments the French government had undertaken several years earlier to establish a solid foundation for Plan Calcul. Often ignored when discussing the development of France's information technology industry, this early history shows why the French government decided to build an autonomous computer industry independent of U.S. technical and financial dominance.