Conclusion

This book, by reviewing the history of the IT industry, has attempted to describe and discuss those factors, both political and economical, which throughout the post-war period have contributed to the performance of certain companies and countries. We began this difficult and complex task by investigating the role national governments played in stimulating the early development of the computing and telecommunications industries. This was followed by an examination of the more recent Fifth Generation Computer initiatives in America, Japan, Britain and Europe. The last chapter analysed the strategies pursued throughout the early 1980s by a number of large European electronics companies.