Chile

Brief Summary:
Invention/Project: Project Cybersyn (also known as SYNCO, from System of Syncretic Control and Information)
Key Figures: Stafford Beer (British cybernetician, theorist, and consultant), Fernando Flores (Chilean engineer and politician), Salvador Allende's government.
Country: Chile
Period: 1971-1973
Essence: A revolutionary project to create a decentralized computer network and decision support system for managing Chile's nationalized economic sector in near real-time.

Project Cybersyn was one of the earliest and most ambitious attempts to apply cybernetic principles and computer technology to managing an entire national economy. It included a futuristic operations room, a network of telex machines for data collection from enterprises, and complex software models for forecasting and optimization. The project was interrupted by the military coup on September 11, 1973, leaving behind a legacy as a bold but tragically unfinished experiment that was ahead of its time.