Spaces where computing and IT industry of Yugoslavia developed

There were numerous places in the former Yugoslavia that played a significant role in the development of Information Technologies and influenced the development of computers, positioning Yugoslavia among the leading countries in Europe in this field. From Belgrade to Ljubljana, these places have been the home to talented engineers, scientists, inventors and spaces that laid the foundations in the development of Information Technologies (IT). Yugoslavia was known for nurturing education and technological development, which created a fertile ground for the development and advancement of the IT industry from the 1950s until the beginning of the 21st century.

Vinča Institute

An important element in the development of science in Serbia as well as in the territory of the former Yugoslavia was the establishment of the Vinča Institute, founded in 1948 by Professor Pavle Savić. Thanks to his great role in creating the idea of a large scientific center in SFRY, in June 1956, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences began its work. This scientific research center primarily focused on the research of state-of-the-art topics in natural sciences: physics, chemistry and biology. In addition, Vinča had a laboratory for mathematics and numerical machines, which gathered a large number of scientists and engineers at the time and was crucial for the creation of the first Yugoslav computer and the beginning of the development of the IT industry in the region.

Professor Pavle Savić

In the Vinča Institute, there was a large group of researchers and scientists working on the production of the first computer, about seventy people under the leadership of academics Dušan Mitrović and Rajko Tomović. Production lasted for four years, starting from 1956 to 1960 when the first Yugoslav computer, the famous CER 10, was created. In addition to many engineers, specialists and technicians, one of the leading scientists in the production of this computer was Dr. Tihomir Aleksić. The computer was named, among other things, after the Cer Mountain in the foothills of which Aleksić grew up, and the name itself also fits with the abbreviation that represents the Cifarski Elektronski Računar (Digital Electronic Computer), which CER actually was.

Manufacturing computers in the 1960s was very expensive and demanding, and in the first ten years only the following four countries in Europe made their own computers: England, Germany, France, Russia, and also Yugoslavia. This was a great achievement for the former Yugoslavia, proving it could compete with other European countries in terms of technology development, along with knowledge and great investment in science.

After the first successful series of CER 10 computers, Yugoslavia continued to produce computers. In addition to the first CER 10 model, the most successful was the CER 22 computer, which was used in the Computing Center of The Belgrade Bank, Belgrade Waterworks, Jugopetrol…

In the mid-1960s, production of computers was still a financially very large undertaking because not only was the money needed for the production of computers, a large sum of it had to be allocated to open factories where they would be produced. Poorer countries gave up the race, but there were no obstacles of this type in Yugoslavia.

Mihajlo Pupin Institute

At the Vinča Institute, the laboratory for mathematics and numerical machines, together with the Institute for Radio Engineering, formed the Mihajlo Pupin Institute. All of the scientists who worked in Vinča continued to work in Pupin, an institute whose main characteristic was scientific research and development. Later, during the 1970s, the Pupin Institute started with a more serious development of a device from which a whole family of devices emerged – with software and hardware that are still applicable today. The Pupin Institute also developed a number of devices for the management of transportation, production and distribution of electricity. Data processing computers produced in the Institute were used by the City Institute for Statistics and Informatics, keeping registers of streets, taxpayers and military service records.

Technical faculties as spaces for the development of informatics in Yugoslavia

Along with the development of computers, first in the Vinča Institute and later in Pupin, universities began to introduce computer subjects and thus educate the general population in this new field. As early as 1961, computer subjects were introduced at postgraduate studies at the School of Electrical Engineering (ETF) in Belgrade. Soon in addition to the ETF, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Civil Engineering introduced subjects related to computing. The first department dedicated to computers at the ETF in Belgrade was founded in 1970 and it employed only three professors at that time, because the field of study itself was still in development. Yugoslavia was among the first to introduce computer subjects in high schools shortly after universities, as early as 1972/73. Mathematical Grammar School was the only high school in SFRY at the time that had its own computer. Only one user could work on it at a time, but it was of great help for practical exercises and crucial for further development and training of young people in this field.

In 1977, a new department was introduced at the Faculty of Mathematics, called E-department. The introduction of computer subjects to universities and high schools has greatly influenced and contributed to the development of the IT sector in SFRY.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a noticeable improvement in the IT industry in the former Yugoslavia. In parallel with developments in Serbia and in other federal states, new spaces that also produced their own computers were developed and founded.

Iskra Delta

In the 1970s, the state-owned company Elektrotehna had its own computer sales sector, but it later grew into a specialized computer company, Delta. However, after a year in operation, Delta separated from Elektrotehna and began to cooperate with the company Iskra, together creating the company Iskra Delta. This Slovenian company developed very quickly, had its own sales and service centers throughout Yugoslavia, and will be especially remembered for the production of Delta 800 computers. Unfortunately, due to delays with microcomputer technology and the new freedom of import on the territory of Yugoslavia, Iskra Delta collapsed in 1988. The company went bankrupt on February 5, 1990, and the proceedings were finally competed 31 years later, in February 2021.

Article about the Iskra Delta computer in Delo magazine, Ljubljanski dnevni list

Ivo Lola Ribar Institute

Long before Iskra Delta, more precisely in 1963, another institute was founded on the territory of SFRY, called Ivo Lola Ribar, which became one of the leading technological institutes in the former Yugoslavia in the 1970s. However, Lola did not have much of a stake in computer production until 1985 when the Institute for Machine Tools and Tools (IAMA) and the Ivo Lola Ribar New Technologies Institute (ILR) merged and started producing machinery, robots, metallurgical and other equipment. A team from the Lola Institute at the time was working on developing hardware for industrial controllers that were installed in machines that Lola successfully exported at the time. They applied this acquired knowledge to the project of the tiny Lola 8 computer, whose hardware was designed by Radovan Novaković, while the software was written by Nela Radovanović. The Lola 8 computer was created in 1982, and the Institute continued to develop in this area, and shortly after, the Lola 8a computer appeared.

Informatics Society of Serbia (DIS)

In addition to the official development that took place at institutes or in companies throughout Yugoslavia, there was also the establishment of specialized associations in the field of Information Technology and computing. One such association was formed on June 28, 1973, in Belgrade at the School of Electrical Engineering, when the Informatics Society of Serbia (DIS) was founded at the founding assembly. The aim of the association was to gather professionals in the field of Information and Communication Technologies and actively participate in the development of the information society.

Dr. Tihomir Aleksić, one of the creators of the first CER 10 computer, was appointed as the first president of the Initiative Committee for the establishment of the Society, which still exists and gathers in order to work on innovative solutions in this field.

Computer development in Croatia

As development in Yugoslavia had been successful for almost two decades, in addition to centers in Serbia, other members of the federation also manufactured computers. In the 1980s, Croatia launched several models of computers on the market. PEL, a company from Varaždin, produced the Galeb home computer in 1981, which was designed by Miroslav Kocjan. A little more than two hundred units of Galeb were manufactured, but its price was quite high. Soon after Galeb, Miroslav Kocjan began to work on the development of computers that would be more advanced than Galeb, with fewer components, easier to produce, with better graphics performance and an acceptable price. The working title of the new project was YU102, and already in 1984, a computer called Orao was created and appeared on the market.

In addition to the PEL company from Varaždin, company called Ivasim from Ivanić Grad entered the race. This company’s primary goal was the production of chemical products used in the oil industry. However, in the early 1980s, Ivasim developed and acquired its own branch, a company for the production and development of personal computers, called Ivel. In collaboration with experts from the US who worked for Apple at the time, the Ivel Ultra school computer was created, also known as Impuls 9020. This model was designed by Branimir Makanec. In addition to this model, Ivel introduced a universal Z-3 microcomputer that was also compatible with the Apple II device. What makes the computers created by Ivel recognizable is a specially designed keyboard created according to the JUS standard, that is, with all signs and letters appropriate for the region. As stated by the company at the time, this model was therefore suitable for typewriting classes.

Development of Information Technology in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina did not lag behind other countries, and the company Energoinvest from Sarajevo, produced a model called Iris 8 in the 1980s, which was also a clone of the then popular Apple II model. However, the use of this computer was limited to state institutions that were under obligation to purchase only domestic equipment.

Electronics industry Niš (Ei Niš)

The electronics industry from Niš also joined other companies in the hope of producing another computer for domestic use, this time a school computer. They succeeded at the end of 1985, presenting two models, the Pecom 32 and then the Pecom 64. They were unusual-looking computers, very compact, with keys arranged according to the QWERTY scheme. Pecom computers were produced and supplied to schools, and were also sold widely, even in bookstores. Batch sizes and the number of copies sold are unknown, but Pecom was seen in shop windows long after its production cycle was completed.

Source: Naissus.info

Source: Ei-Elektronska Industrija Niš – klub poštovalaca

The first computer BBS system – Bulletin Board System in Serbia

In parallel with the great progress that has occurred in the production of home computers, various computer systems were being developed, and one of them is the BBS (Bulletin Board System). Computer systems of this type appeared in the world in the late seventies, while in Yugoslavia one of the larger BBSs began operating in 1989. Sezam, as it was originally called, this BBS worked on the principle of message exchange, as the forerunner of the forums.

Users of this BBS initially had access and could only communicate via a telephone line, initially only one, and at a later stage as many as 15 lines. In addition to Sezam, BBSs also existed in Niš, Croatia and Slovenia. Sezam was a particularly important channel for communication, as various conferences were held using it and numerous debates on various topics were initiated. In the beginning, it was mainly visited by technologically educated people who knew how to access this system and use it. In the first five years, from November 1989 to November 1994, users wrote 394,000 messages or 418 megabytes of text on a variety of topics, ranging from computer to politics, culture, music and others. Sezam users called themselves “Sezamovci” and represented a forerunner of sorts of social networks.

After six years of operations and development of the Sezam BBS, co-owners and founders Dejan Ristivojević and Zoran Životić decided to continue with the improvement of the BBS, and on December 19, 1995, Sezam Pro was created, and they began operating commercially, i.e. expanding the network and connecting to the Internet.

The 90s and the Internet

The 1980s were very successful years for the development of computers in the former Yugoslavia, however, the end of the eighties and the breakup of Yugoslavia changed the situation in this field as well. Technology has already advanced considerably in the early 1990s, while there was a noticeable period of stagnation when it comes to the development of new computers in Yugoslavia. This stagnation was partly the product of the wars fought in the early 1990s, accompanied by sanctions and inflation. Computers became expensive to manufacture, and were mostly imported, usually through the black market. Researchers and enthusiasts in this field increasingly focused and tried to connect to the world wide web called – the Internet.

In the early 1990s, the Internet network became more widespread, and, in Belgrade, so did the Academic Communication Network, the most modern computer network in Serbia, which included several faculties in its network (School of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy).

The first optical cables within the city were installed in 1991 in the technical faculties and at the Student Square where the first optical connections in the country were realized, while other major faculties and institutes were connected at modem speeds of low capacity.

On November 1, 1996, Sezam Pro offered full access to the Internet, which officially included Serbia in the global network of all networks – and the Internet era began in the region.

The first internet café in Serbia – Sezam Cafe

In the mid-1990s, Sezam Pro collaborated with the Academic Network, and at the same time opened the first Internet café in Yugoslavia – Sezam Cafe – a place where technology lovers could gather. Another goal of this Internet café was to make this a place where people who do not have a computer would be able to get acquainted with the possibilities provided by the Internet, contact their friends around the world or collect and transmit information.

Source: Website Sezam pro

Development of playrooms, computer and cultural centers

Although they are not official institutes or factories for the production of computers, playrooms play a significant role in the development of this area. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, computer playrooms were for most people, especially teenagers or video game fans, the only places where they had access to computers and the Internet. That is why, although now almost non-existent, these places are important in the development of Information Technology. People in playrooms acquired their first computer skills, learned how software works, and, most often, how to play games.

In addition to playrooms, it is important to mention the numerous computer centers that existed at universities, but also in high schools and elementary schools. These centers were “meeting places” between young people and the large machines of the time (computers were very cumbersome) where young people were often taught the basics of computer science. Apart from centers in official institutions, informal centers also appeared in the late 1990s. One such was the Rex Cultural Center in Belgrade, which was an important place for different creatives in the 1990s. It was equipped with computers, which could be used by all visitors completely free of charge without any obligation. Rex worked until 2000 when all the equipment was confiscated and when they were evicted. The following year, in 2001, they returned to the premises and recovered most of the equipment, and Rex started working as a cultural center.

Another such center was the Multimedia Center of the Referral Center of the University of Zagreb (MMC), which also offered the possibility of using the computer free of charge every day from 8 am to 8 pm. In addition to these centers, there have been other similar initiatives in cities throughout FRY.

From stagnation to redevelopment of information technology in the early 2000s

In the late 1990s, another war hit FRY, which greatly influenced the renewed stagnation in the field of technology. During the war of ’99, great damage was done when 30 computer centers that could not be moved were destroyed.

Nevertheless, the beginning of 2000 brought a certain kind of progress and stabilization and the development of the information society slowly began. More and more people had access to the Internet, home computers were becoming more accessible, and an increasing number of young people were opting to attend technical faculties and pursue education in the field of Information Technology.

In place of former computer companies, at the beginning of 2000, the main place in the development of the IT industry was occupied by companies for the distribution of computers and computer equipment. Apart from this, there were numerous companies engaged in software development, and by the mid-2010s, a greater push for the development in the field of gaming industry began.

Despite the fact that Yugoslavia was among the leading countries in Europe in computer production fifty years ago, the former federation states, however, did not continue this tradition and the industry in this area did not develop. For years, in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, commercial computers of popular global brands produced by the largest companies in this field have been in use. Today, memories of the great successes of local scientists, engineers and researchers are kept from oblivion in museums throughout the former Yugoslavia.