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Oral history interview with Ron G. Bird

2013-11-19
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Title

Oral history interview with Ron G. Bird

Published Date

2013-11-19

Publisher

Charles Babbage Institute

Type

Oral History

Abstract

In November 2013, CBI director Tom Misa conducted a series of oral history interviews with 13 former employees of Control Data Australia (1963-89) including the details of each person’s career, before and after working for Control Data. Topics that are common to many of the interviews include Trevor Robinson’s key role in organizing Control Data Australia; the early computer sales in Australia to the Bureau of Census and Statistics, Department of Defence, Postmaster General, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Bureau of Meteorology, and several prominent Australian universities. Control Data Australia did business data processing for such large concerns as Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP), Telstra, and others. A distinctive emphasis was its work in developing computer systems for race-track betting for the state of Victoria’s Totalisator Agency Board (TAB) as well as for other Australian states and New Zealand. Other topics include relations with Control Data’s headquarters in Minneapolis, business data processing, data centers, database management, networking and Cybernet, and projects done in several Far East countries. Interviews were conducted with Richard Bament, John Baxter, Ron G. Bird, Tony Blackmore, Lyle Bowden, Marcel Dayan, Ian Downie, Julie James, George Karoly, John O’Neil, Garry Pearce, Rob Robertson, and Bruce Wilson.

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Transcript, 47 pp.

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Previously Published Citation

Ron G. Bird, OH 442. Oral history interview by Thomas J. Misa, 19 November 2013, Melbourne, Australia. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Other identifiers

OH 442

Suggested citation

Bird, Ron G.. (2013). Oral history interview with Ron G. Bird. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/164967.

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