HC Deb 03 May 1966 vol 727 cc1409-10
21. Mr. Dalyell

asked the Minister of Technology if he will state the terms of the research contract he has recently placed with Imperial College of Science and Technology for the development of a general purpose computer processor.

The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Technology (Mr. Edmund Dell)

The contract is for a general purpose compiler to provide a tool for translating programming languages into the orders which individual computers obey. The contract, which covers a three-year programme, is for £106,500.

Mr. Dalyell

Is this to be a prototype form of contract?

Mr. Dell

It is certainly the sort of contract which we wish to develop with both industry and the universities to develop the computer industry.