[Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Cybersyn "Permalink to Project Cybersyn - Wikipedia")
# Project Cybersyn - Wikipedia
# Project Cybersyn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: [navigation][1], [search][2]
![][3]
The Operations Room (or Opsroom): a physical location where economic information was to be received, stored, and made available for speedy decision-making. It was designed in accordance with Gestalt principles in order to give users a platform that would enable them to absorb information in a simple but comprehensive way.[[1]][4]
| ----- |
| Part of [a series][5] on |
| [Socialism][6] |
| ![Red flag waving.svg][7] |
|
Development
* [History of socialism][8]
* [Socialist calculation debate][9]
* [Socialist economics][10]
|
|
Ideas
* [Socialist mode of production][11]
* [Calculation in kind][12]
* [Collective ownership][13]
* [Cooperative][14]
* [Common ownership][15]
* [Commune (model of government)][16]
* [Economic democracy][17]
* [Economic planning][18]
* [Equal opportunity][19]
* [Free association][20]
* [Industrial democracy][21]
* [Input–output model][22]
* [Internationalism][23]
* [Labor-time calculation][24]
* [Labour voucher][25]
* [Material balance planning][26]
* [Peer‑to‑peer economics][27]
([Sharing economy][28])
* [Production for use][29]
* [Social dividend][30]
* [Social ownership][31]
* [Socialism in One Country][32]
* [State ownership][33]
* [To each according
to his contribution][34] / [needs][35]
* [Workplace democracy][36]
* [Workers' self-management][37]
|
|
Models
* [**Decentralized planning][38]**
[Participatory economics][39]
* [**Market socialism][40]**
* [Lange model][41]
* [Mutualism][42]
* [**Planned economy][43]**
* [Soviet-type][44]
* [OGAS][45]
Project Cybersyn
* [**Socialist market economy][46]**
[Socialist-oriented market][47]
|
|
[Variants][48]
* [African][49]
* [Arab][50]
* [Agrarian][51]
* [Anarchist][52]
* [Authoritarian][53]
* [Blanquism][54]
* [Communism][55]
* [Democratic][56]
* [Ethical][57]
* [Ecological][58]
* [Feminist][59]
* [Gandhian][60]
* [Guild][61]
* [Liberal][62]
* [Libertarian][63]
* [Market][40]
* [Marhaenism][64]
* [Marxism][65]
* [Municipal][66]
* [Owenism][67]
* [Reformism][68]
* [Religious][69]
* [Revolutionary][70]
* [Ricardian][71]
* [Scientific][72]
* [Social democracy][73]
* [Socialist nationalism][74]
* [State][75]
* [Syndicalism][76]
* [Technocracy][77]
* [Third World][78]
* [Utopian][79]
* [Zionist][80]
* [21st-century][81]
|
|
History by country
* [Australia][82]
* [Bangladesh][83]
* [Brazil][84]
* [Canada][85]
* [Estonia][86]
* [Hong Kong][87]
* [India][88]
* [Iran][89]
* [Netherlands][90]
* [New Zealand][91]
* [Pakistan][92]
* [Tunisia][93]
* [French Left][94]
* [United Kingdom][95]
* [United States][96]
|
|
People
* [Thomas More][97]
* [Tommaso Campanella][98]
* [Henri de Saint-Simon][99]
* [François-Noël Babeuf][100]
* [Robert Owen][101]
* [Charles Fourier][102]
* [William Thompson][103]
* [Thomas Hodgskin][104]
* [Étienne Cabet][105]
* [Louis Auguste Blanqui][106]
* [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon][107]
* [Louis Blanc][108]
* [Moses Hess][109]
* [Mikhail Bakunin][110]
* [Karl Marx][111]
* [Friedrich Engels][112]
* [Ferdinand Lassalle][113]
* [William Morris][114]
* [Mary Harris Jones][115]
* [Peter Kropotkin][116]
* [Eduard Bernstein][117]
* [Errico Malatesta][118]
* [Fred M. Taylor][119]
* [Eugene V. Debs][120]
* [Georgi Plekhanov][121]
* [John Dewey][122]
* [Enrico Barone][123]
* [Ben Tillett][124]
* [Fernand Pelloutier][125]
* [W. E. B. Du Bois][126]
* [Emma Goldman][127]
* [Rosa Luxemburg][128]
* [Vladimir Lenin][129]
* [Léon Blum][130]
* [Bertrand Russell][131]
* [Antonie Pannekoek][132]
* [Luis Emilio Recabarren][133]
* [Joseph Stalin][134]
* [Albert Einstein][135]
* [Leon Trotsky][136]
* [Clement Attlee][137]
* [György Lukács][138]
* [Karl Polanyi][139]
* [Nikolai Bukharin][140]
* [Nestor Makhno][141]
* [Amadeo Bordiga][142]
* [G. D. H. Cole][143]
* [Ho Chi Minh][144]
* [Antonio Gramsci][145]
* [Josip Broz Tito][146]
* [Farabundo Martí][147]
* [Mao Zedong][148]
* [Imre Nagy][149]
* [José Carlos Mariátegui][150]
* [Einar Gerhardsen][151]
* [Sidney Hook][152]
* [Oskar R. Lange][153]
* [Max Shachtman][154]
* [George Orwell][155]
* [Deng Xiaoping][156]
* [Léopold Sédar Senghor][157]
* [Salvador Allende][158]
* [Enver Hoxha][159]
* [Kwame Nkrumah][160]
* [Edvard Kardelj][161]
* [Kim Il-sung][162]
* [François Mitterrand][163]
* [Bettino Craxi][164]
* [Gamal Abdel Nasser][165]
* [Nelson Mandela][166]
* [Murray Bookchin][167]
* [Alexander Dubček][168]
* [Howard Zinn][169]
* [Fidel Castro][170]
* [Olof Palme][171]
* [Che Guevara][172]
* [Noam Chomsky][173]
* [Martin Luther King Jr.][174]
* [Mikhail Gorbachev][175]
* [Bernie Sanders][176]
* [Muammar Gaddafi][177]
* [Tariq Ali][178]
* [Daniel Ortega][179]
* [Abdullah Öcalan][180]
* [Slavoj Žižek][181]
* [Thomas Sankara][182]
* [Jeremy Corbyn][183]
* [Jack Layton][184]
* [Jean-Luc Mélenchon][185]
* [Cornel West][186]
* [Hugo Chávez][187]
* [Pushpa Kamal Dahal][188]
* [Chris Hedges][189]
* [Evo Morales][190]
* [Yanis Varoufakis][191]
* [Rafael Correa][192]
* [Alexis Tsipras][193]
* [Pablo Iglesias Turrión][194]
|
|
Organizations
* [First International
(International Workingmen's Association)][195]
* [Second International][196]
* [Third International
(Comintern)][197]
* [Fourth International][198]
* [Fifth International][199]
* [Labour and Socialist International][200]
* [Socialist International][201]
* [World Federation of
Democratic Youth][202]
* [International Union of
Socialist Youth][203]
* [World Socialist Movement][204]
* [International Committee
of the Fourth International][205]
* [Progressive Alliance][206]
|
|
Related topics
* [Anarchism][207]
* [Capitalism][208]
* [Communist society][209]
* [Criticism of capitalism][210]
* [Economic system][211]
* [List of socialist economists][212]
* [Nanosocialism][213]
* [Progressivism][214]
* [Right-wing socialism][215]
* [Socialism and LGBT rights][216]
* [Socialist Party][217]
* [Socialist state][218]
|
|
* [**Socialism portal][219]**
* [Economics portal][220]
* [Politics portal][221]
|
|
* [v][222]
* [t][223]
* [e][224]
|
**Project Cybersyn** was a [Chilean][225] project from 1971–1973 during the [presidency of Salvador Allende][226] aimed at constructing a distributed [decision support system][227] to aid in the management of the national economy. The project consisted of four modules: an economic simulator, custom software to check factory performance, an operations room, and a national network of [telex][228] machines that were linked to one mainframe computer.[[2]][229]
Project Cybersyn was based on [viable system model][230] theory and a [neural network][231] approach to organizational design, and featured innovative technology for its time: it included a network of [telex][228] machines (_Cybernet_) in state-run enterprises that would transmit and receive information with the government in [Santiago][232]. Information from the field would be fed into statistical modeling software (_Cyberstride_) that would monitor production indicators (such as raw material supplies or high rates of worker absenteeism) in real time, and alert the workers in the first case, and in abnormal situations also the central government, if those parameters fell outside acceptable ranges. The information would also be input into economic simulation software (_CHECO_, for CHilean ECOnomic simulator) that the government could use to forecast the possible outcome of economic decisions. Finally, a sophisticated operations room (_Opsroom_) would provide a space where managers could see relevant economic data, formulate responses to emergencies, and transmit advice and directives to enterprises and factories in alarm situations by using the telex network.
The principal architect of the system was British [operations research][233] scientist [Stafford Beer][234], and the system embodied his notions of [organisational cybernetics][235] in industrial management. One of its main objectives was to devolve decision-making power within industrial enterprises to their workforce in order to develop self-regulation of factories.
## Contents
* [1 Name][236]
* [2 History][237]
* [3 System][238]
* [4 Aesthetics][239]
* [5 References in popular culture][240]
* [6 See also][241]
* [7 References][242]
* [8 External links][243]
## Name[[edit][244]]
The project's name in English (Cybersyn) is a [portmanteau][245] of the words "cybernetics" and "synergy". Since the name is not [euphonic][246] in Spanish, in that language the project was called _Synco_, both an [initialism][247] for the Spanish _Sistema de INformación y COntrol_, "system of information and control", and a pun on the Spanish _cinco_, the number five, alluding to the five levels of Beer's [viable system model][230].
## History[[edit][248]]
[Stafford Beer][234] was a British consultant in [management cybernetics][249]. He also sympathized with the stated ideals of Chilean socialism of maintaining Chile's democratic system and the autonomy of workers instead of imposing a [Soviet][250]-style system of top-down command and control.
In July 1971, [Fernando Flores][251], a high-level employee of the Chilean Production Development Corporation ([CORFO][252]) contacted Beer for advice on incorporating Beer's theories into the management of the newly nationalized sector of Chile's economy. Beer saw this as a unique opportunity to implement his ideas on a national scale. More than offering advice, he left most of his other consulting business and devoted much time to what became Project Cybersyn. He traveled to Chile often to collaborate with local implementors and used his personal contacts to secure help from British technical experts.
The implementation schedule was very aggressive, and the system had reached an advanced prototype stage at the start of 1973.
The system was most useful in October 1972, when about 40,000 striking truck drivers [blocked the access streets][253] that converged towards [Santiago][232]. According to Gustavo Silva (executive secretary of energy in CORFO), using the system's telex machines, the government was able to guarantee the transport of food into the city with only about 200 trucks driven by [strike-breakers][254], recouping the shortages caused by 40,000 striking truck drivers.[[3]][255]
After the [military coup][256] on September 11, 1973, Cybersyn was abandoned and the operations room was destroyed.
## System[[edit][257]]
There were 500 unused telex machines bought by the previous government. Each was put into one factory. In the control centre in Santiago, each day data coming from each factory (several numbers, such as raw material input, production output and number of absentees) were put into a computer, which made short-term predictions and necessary adjustments. There were four levels of control (firm, branch, sector, total), with [algedonic feedback][258]. If one level of control did not remedy a problem in a certain interval, the higher level was notified. The results were discussed in the operations room and a top-level plan was made.
The [software][259] for Cybersyn was called _Cyberstride_, and used [Bayesian filtering][260] and [Bayesian control][261]. It was written by Chilean engineers in consultation with a team of 12 British programmers.[[4]][262]
The [futuristic][263] operations room was designed by a team led by the [interface designer][264] [Gui Bonsiepe][265]. It was furnished with seven [swivel chairs][266] (considered the best for creativity) with buttons, which were designed to control several large screens that could project the data, and other panels with status information, although these were of limited functionality as they could only show pre-prepared graphs. This consisted of slides.[[5]][267]
The project is described in some detail in the second edition of Strafford Beer's books _Brain of the Firm_ and _Platform for Change_. The latter book includes proposals for social innovations such as having representatives of diverse 'stakeholder' groups into the control centre.
## Aesthetics[[edit][268]]
The Ops room used [Tulip chairs][269] similar to those used in the [American][270] [science fiction][271] TV programme [_Star Trek][272]_, although according to the designers, the style was not influenced by science fiction movies.[[6]][273]
## References in popular culture[[edit][274]]
Chilean science fiction author [Jorge Baradit][275] published a Spanish-language science fiction novel _Synco_ in 2008. It is an [alternate history][276] [science fantasy][277] novel set in a 1979 where Allende's government was not overthrown and Cybersyn was used to manage the Chilean economy and serve as a rudimentary online [reference work][278], protected by a dedicated pseudo-religious guard.
## See also[[edit][279]]
* ![icon][280][Business and economics portal][220]
* ![flag][281][Chile portal][282]
* ![][283][Information technology portal][284]
* ![icon][285][Socialism portal][219]
* ![diagram][286][Systems science portal][287]
* [Alexander Kharkevich][288]([ru][289]), head of the Department of technical physics in Kiev with a similar concept in 1962.[[7]][290][[8]][291]
* [OGAS][45]
* [ARPANET][292]
* [Chilean coup of 1973][256]
* [Economic calculation debate][293]
* [Enterprise resource planning][294]
* [Fernando Flores][251]
* [History of Chile][295]
* [Internet][296]
* [Material balance planning][26]
* [Planned economy][43]
* [Socialist economy][297]
* [Viable system model][230]
## References[[edit][298]]
1. [**^][299]** [Cybersyn Chile - Opsroom][300]
2. [**^][301]** ["IU professor analyzes Chile's 'Project Cybersyn'"][302]. UI News Room. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
3. [**^][303]** Eden Medina (2006). "Designing Freedom, Regulating a Nation: Socialist Cybernetics in Allende's Chile". _J. Lat. Amer. Stud_. Cambridge University Press (38): 571–606. [doi][304]:[10.1017/S0022216X06001179][305].
5. [**^][308]** Medina, Eden. ["Interview Eden Medina over Project Cybersyn"][309]. _VPRO Tegenlicht_. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
6. [**^][310]** Eden Medina (2011). _Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile_, 1st edn. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. [ISBN][311][978-0-262-01649-0][312]. _section 4, p. 121._
8. [**^][314]** Kharkevich, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (1973). _Theory of information. The identification of the images. Selected works in three volumes. Volume 3_. Information and technology: Moscow: Publishing House "Nauka", 1973. - Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Institute of information transmission problems. pp.495–508.
## External links[[edit][315]]
* [Eden Medina, _Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile_, (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2011).][316]
* [Eden Medina, "Designing Freedom, Regulating a Nation: Socialist Cybernetics in Allende's Chile." Journal of Latin American Studies 38 (2006):571-606.][317](pdf)
* [Lessons of Stafford Beer][318]
* [The CeberSyn heritage in the XXI Century][319]
* [The CyberSyn multimedia "reconstruction"][320]
* [Before '73 Coup, Chile Tried to Find the Right Software for Socialism][321], by Alexei Barrionuevo. _The New York Times._ March 28, 2008
* [The forgotten story of Chile's 'socialist internet'][322]
* [Futurism, fictional and science fictional - rambling and inspiring][323] on [BoingBoing][324]
* [Project Cybersyn | varnelis.net][307]
* [Rhizome.org: Project Cybersyn][325]
* [Stafford Beer, and Salvador Allende's Internet, and the Dystopian Novel][326]
* [Free As In Beer: Cybernetic Science Fictions][327]
* [Planning Machine at The New Yorker][328]
* [Allende's socialist internet at Red Pepper][329]
![][330]
Retrieved from "[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project_Cybersyn&oldid=814052140][331]"
[Categories][332]:
* [Cybernetics][333]
* [Economy of Chile][334]
* [1970s in Chile][335]
* [Presidency of Salvador Allende][336]
* [Socialism in Chile][337]
* [Economic planning][338]
* [Networks][339]
* [Socialism][5]
* [1970s economic history][340]
* [Information management][341]
Hidden categories:
* [Interlanguage link template link number][342]
## Navigation menu
### Personal tools
* Not logged in
* [Talk][343]
* [Contributions][344]
* [Create account][345]
* [Log in][346]
### Namespaces
* [Article][347]
* [Talk][348]
### Variants
### Views
* [Read][349]
* [Edit][350]
* [View history][351]
### More
### Search
### Navigation
* [Main page][352]
* [Contents][353]
* [Featured content][354]
* [Current events][355]
* [Random article][356]
* [Donate to Wikipedia][357]
* [Wikipedia store][358]
### Interaction
* [Help][359]
* [About Wikipedia][360]
* [Community portal][361]
* [Recent changes][362]
* [Contact page][363]
### Tools
* [What links here][364]
* [Related changes][365]
* [Upload file][366]
* [Special pages][367]
* [Permanent link][368]
* [Page information][369]
* [Wikidata item][370]
* [Cite this page][371]
### Print/export
* [Create a book][372]
* [Download as PDF][373]
* [Printable version][374]
### Languages
* [Deutsch][375]
* [Español][376]
* [Esperanto][377]
* [Français][378]
* [Bahasa Indonesia][379]
* [日本語][380]
* [Português][381]
* [Русский][382]
* [Svenska][383]
* [Українська][384]
[Edit links][385]
* This page was last edited on 6 December 2017, at 17:03.
* Text is available under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License][386]; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the [Terms of Use][387] and [Privacy Policy][388]. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the [Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.][389], a non-profit organization.
[32]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_in_One_Country "Socialism in One Country"
[33]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_ownership "State ownership"
[34]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_each_according_to_his_contribution "To each according to his contribution"
[35]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_ability%2C_to_each_according_to_his_needs "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"
[288]: /w/index.php?title=Alexander_Kharkevich&action=edit&redlink=1 "Alexander Kharkevich (page does not exist)"
[289]: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 "ru:Харкевич, Александр Александрович"
[342]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category%3AInterlanguage_link_template_link_number "Category:Interlanguage link template link number"
[343]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special%3AMyTalk "Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]"
[344]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special%3AMyContributions "A list of edits made from this IP address [y]"
[345]: /w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Project+Cybersyn "You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"
[346]: /w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Project+Cybersyn "You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]"
[347]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Cybersyn "View the content page [c]"
[348]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AProject_Cybersyn "Discussion about the content page [t]"