CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS LEADING TO THE RECOMMENDATION ON THE ASCII

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04723A000200020028-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 28, 2002
• Sequence Number: 28
• Content Type: SUMMARY

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Chronology of Events Leading to the Recommendation
on the ASCII
1. History of the ASCII Development.
The American Standards Association Sectional Committee X3 on
Computers and Information Processing was formed in 1960. Sub-
Committee X3,2 on Codes and Input/Output began to function in
the fall of 1962 attacking first the problem of a standard coded
character set. The first output product of this work was the
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) ASA
X3,4-,1963 which was approved after considerable controversy as
an American Standard in June of 1963. The coded character set
was not complete in that therewms a section of codes to which
no characters were assigned pending further research on character
requirement. Following some two years of further research and
international deliberations, a revision of the ASCII was approved
by the ASA in December 1965.. This revision assigned characters
to all 128 positions in the code table and included some changes
in characters and character positions in the interest of com-
pat-'bility with the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) 7-Bit Code and the CCITT proposed 7-Bit new Alphabet-Code
(Note. As a result of a joint ISO/TC 97/SC2 and CCITT/GM
Alphabet meeting in Paris in April 1966, further minor changes
were made in the ISO and. CCITT to bring them into complete
agreement. These same changes to the ASCII are now being
processed on an expedited basis. The results should be known
and the action completed in the next few months.) The ISO 7-Bit
Code appears to have the support of all the national bodies par-
ticipating in the ISO/TC97 project. he 4ro? can Co;:pueer
Manufacturers Association (ECMMA) has adopted ch?is
code _-.s
an EC:A
standard. e'_ number of the participating national
bod=_
have
either incorporated the code in national standards
or
such
action underway. This is the ASCII in the United
Sta.es.
The
U.S. Department of Defense introduced consideration of the ISO
7-Bit Code into the NATO where it is being considered for adoption
as a NATO standard. The ASCII has been adopted as a MMMILIT.LRY
STANDL'KD (MIL-STD - 188B) for communication systems and as a JCS
standard for Information Interchange in the National Military
Command and Control System. The U.S. Air Transport Association
and t'_a international Air Transport Association, acting jointly
in developin=?.ians for digital air-ground communications, have
adopted the ISO 7-Bit Code as an ATA-IATA standard for communications.
The above are examples of the great interest shown by many users
organizations as well as equipment suppliers in achieving inter-
national code compatability. From an implementation standpoint,
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the ASCII will be the code used in the worldwide DOD AUTODIN
general purpose communication system and is now the code used in
the Advanced Record System under lease by the General Services
Administration. The ATA-IATA have established a committee to
;velc: implementing plans for converting to the 7-Bit Code
from the presently used 5-Bit Baudot code. It is agan_ist this
genera background that the adoption of ASCII as a Federal
Standard has been considered,
2. The Standards Panel of the BOB ADP Advisory Council meeting on
January 2, 1965, agreed to a statement on the adoption of the
ASCII by the Federal Government and recommended that the statement
be issued as a policy announcement.
3. The Director of the Bureau of the Budget, in a letter of
September 28, 1965, requested the views of the Secretary of
Commerce on whether the ASCII should be adopted as a Federal
Standard. A similar letter was sent to the Administrator of
Gen__--al Services on the same date.
4. A joint Secretary of Commerce-Administrator of GSA letter was sent
under date of November 1, 1965, to ADP and communications equipment
suppliers enclosing the recommendations of the Standards Panel and
requesting a written response commenting on the economic impact
of the proposed policy statement and an indication of the earliest
date when equipment responsive to the proposed policy would be
available. The responses of the suppliers generally supported
the proposed standardization policy and objectives. _ number
indicated that t.ey were either in a position to supply ASCII
equipment or were developing products based on the ASCII. Some
indicated that fiscal year 1967 was too early to include ASCII
in procurement specifications. The written responses, parcieularly
from computer manufacturers, were not sufficiently definitive to
determine when a full range of ASCII equipment would be available.
5. The views of the using departments of the Federal Government were
also solicited in a joint Commerce/GSA letter carrying the same
:.ate of November 1, 1965. Responses of the departments and inde-
pendent offices indicated very strong support for the proposed
policy on standards as well as support for the adoption of
ASCII as a Feral Standard. Some of the responses, however, in-
dicated a misunderstanding that the proposed action would
require conversion of existing installed systems to ASCII.
A co1_'ective meeting of NIBS, GSA, and other Federal department
and irdr_o-endent office representatives was .geld on February 15, 1966.
The .r cse of this meeting was to clear up any questions on the
Standar. Panel's statement on ASCII, to bring out any major
~roble::s or objections with respect to the adoption of ASCII a---d
to ma_e --!ear the areas of application. This meeting confirm:-.d
the support within the Federal Government for ADP standards
_ad for the ASCII in particular. A total of 45
,rest> acives attended this meeting representing 31 Federal
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7. days c-.! collective meetir. s were held on March 7 and 8, 1966,
between i'3S and GSA representatives on one hand and AD? and
communication equipment suppliers on the other. The primary
purpose of these meetings were to clear up any misunderstandings
on the proposed areas of application under consideration for
ASCII and to obtain the suppliers views on when ASCII should be
made a requirement in Government ADP and communication equipment
procurement actions. Manufacturers indicated a preference for
private meetings with NDS-GSA representatives to discuss availability
of.ASCII equipment. Private meetings were, therefore, scheduled
with the following suppliers:
Company
Meeting Date
Litton Industries (MONROE)
March
1,
1966
Honeywell, Incorporated
March
31,
1966
Prilco Corporation
April
15,
1966
Burroughs Corporation
April
19,
1966
~IA
April
19,
1966
Control Data Corporation
April
20,
1966
UNIVAC, Div. Sperry Rand Corp.
April
21,
1966
DUPA Corporation
April
22,
1966
Digitronics Corporation
May 3,
1966
IBM Corporation
May 20, 1966
8. The NCR Company responded with a letter having concluded no
private meein was necessary. The General Electric Company
representatives have also stated that a letter will be forwarded
but it has not been received, A number of other companies have
_:.~cated no private meeting was necessary or desired.
9 . Records o the correspondence noted above, and reports of meetings
held and notes taken at the meetings, are retained in the files at
the Center for Computer Sciences and Technology, National Bureau
of Standards.
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(For Advance Information of the Interagency Committee on ADP)
Tentative Outline of Report of Acccr 11Sments
in the !,anagement of
Automatic Data Processing
i. Requirer"ent: Pres'ident's memo of June 28, 1966 requires the Director,
Bureau of the Budget to report to him to December 31, 1966 and every six
months hs thereafter On pro-reS?s being made to improve the management of ADP.
2. Plans for Ir.:~le:^entation: BOB circular will call for sliomission of
agency reports to meet the President's requirement. initial report would
be due in BOB on Tove::.ber 25, 1966 to cover agency accomrlisie ents from
March 1905 to i`iOvem'ser' Subsequent reports would be due on 217
and November 2 to cover previous six month
3. Probn.ble 00.^t Consideration f -s r ? F
S ti given to t_ vln, 2-3 Cy
reports consist of 5 sections
A. UV_'o of electronic cr,,
gyn.,'., . :.n f
apply to comp cyst > r_s installed or z'Gt-_ 'w r' n? resr - a .
B.
1. Brief ueScr:iptio : of the programi in rich
C,'..y~tl~erS
are used.
2. -Denefits be'ir ; obtained.
3. The role of the CO"^_~L?ter in Cb ai ?r b= mssi r
,en s in the Y.:.
e.? 5D
act- Action taken by agencies in re '. tense to 1 c11
o':r~.^_,
in report to the President o : the ?a rt:ge_.ent of ADP in the
Federal
nme': , ?
~o.~~ i gated rch 2 19(5
a. h'+ h
wp;,er _.,
b. Cna-~,Ver ec?a~ ,
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2. Other actions, ski as standardization of computer-based
systems, consolidation of computer facilities, use of
excess equipment.
C. Plans for the future
1. Plans for the use of computers
2. Plans for the management of ADP activities
D. Areas in which management improvement of ADP requires action
on the part of other agencies.
Description of ADP orga.niaa.tionai framework: and assignment of
responsibilities thru which the agency head is assured that
ADP is properly managed.
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