Information Computing Center

an organized subdivision of a concern or an independent institution equipped with computers for the mechanized or automatic processing of scientific-technical and economic information in production.

An information computing center serves for production planning, keeping track of stocks of raw materials and finished products, calculating wages earned, working out routes and schedules for the movement of means of transportation, processing statistics, and reference and patent information. Information arrives from corresponding subdivisions (services) to the center, where it is recorded on perforated tape (or magnetic tape) and is inputted into a computer for processing. The results of processing in the form of tabulations are output from a teletype or character printer to shops, departments, laboratories, and dispatchers.

Information and computing centers are distinguished according to the equipment used, the character of the problems solved, and the level of automation. A center includes one or more digital computers, keypunch machines and keyboard computers, reference and working accumulators of information, services displays, control panels, and printing and display devices. The centers include preparation and programming departments, as well as departments for maintenance of the computers, and auxiliary devices. The personnel serving in these centers are economists, programmers, computer maintenance engineers, and specialists in electrical equipment and ventilating and cooling plants. The special feature of these centers is the processing and storage of large amounts of accounting information and a significant proportion of operations on data input and output.