4 The Rise of the Technocrat: How State Attempts to Centralize Power through Computing Went Astray, 1965–1969

Although growing computerization created an exciting and lucrative environment from the perspective of computer workers in the 1960s, the view from above was different. The fruits of Labour's white hot technological revolution remained economically uncertain and difficult to quantify. First, vastly increased efficiency was not indicated by the government's manpower studies on its own computing systems, but vast outlays on computing hardware and software continued apace.1 Second, growing labor problems plagued the government. Its installations required an ever-increasing number of skilled computer workers, but in a field with hazy qualifications and no set career path, hiring and retention on the scale needed was becoming difficult. Third, the British computing industry required ever-increasing injections of government funding to stay competitive, in the form of grants, loans, and preferential government purchasing policies for computers used in Civil Service offices and the nationalized industries.