Computing for Democracy: The Asociación de Técnicos de Informática and the Professionalization of Computing in Spain

Abstract

The professionalization and institutionalization of computing in Spain had a turning point in the mid-1970s, resulting from the crisis of Franco's dictatorship and the establishment of a constitutional democracy in 1976. One of the key players was the Association of Information Technology Technicians (Asociación de Técnicos de Informática, ATI), whose activities included demands for better working conditions in the computing industry, the promotion of academic programs in computer sciences and the lobbying for the regulation of computing to preserve privacy and personal freedom. In contrast with Europe and the United States, where the Information Technology sector grew without professionalization, nor unionism, ATI's claims and commitments were coherent with wider cultural, economic and political changes in the country, and were inspired by the climate of contemporary left-wing opposition to the Francoist regime in Catalonia. However, once democracy was established, the political and trade union activism of the Association declined to almost disappear.