§ Mr. J. H. Osbornasked the Minister of Technology (1) what contacts he has made with overseas countries, including Europe, the United States of America, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for co-ordinating and standardising systems and codes, and for carrying out research and development into information storage and retrieval using computers and telecommunication systems, in order to avoid duplication of effort;
(2) what contacts he has made with Commonwealth countries for co-ordinating and standardising systems and codes, and for carrying out research and development into information storage and retrieval using computers and telecommunication systems, in order to avoid duplication of effort.
§ Mr. BennResearch and development into information storage and retrieval is the responsibility of the Minister in whose Department the requirement arises, but I am keeping in touch with the many developments in this rapidly expanding field. The Office for Scientific and Technical Information (for which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science is responsible) is stimulating co-operation wherever practical between appropriate institutions in the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. with the aim of avoiding duplication of effort. It is also in touch with development in the Commonwealth through the Commonwealth Scientific Committee; in O.E.C.D. countries through the O.E.C.D. Group on Scientific Information Policy and with the U.S.S.R. through a recent exchange of visits. Its policy is to work towards the standardisation of systems, including indexing languages and computer programmes.
International standards for computers and data processing are being worked out in the International Standards Organisation and the International Electrotechnical Commission in which the British Standards Institution represents the United Kingdom. The Institution takes part in all working groups in these bodies on these subjects. The work of these bodies covers, among other things character recognition, and the coding and 265W transmission of data. Several Commonwealth countries are members of these organisations.
International telecommunications standards are formulated by the Comité Consultatif International Telegraphique et Telephonique (C.C.I.T.T.) in which the General Post Office makes a leading contribution to the United Kingdom viewpoint.