To protect domestic production from foreign competition, which was often done to an excessive degree and to the detriment of the local consumer and industry, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) enforced strict import regulations. These restrictions had a role in the development of the computer industry in this country, other than in the Western world. One of the fundamental ideologies that influenced computer development in Yugoslavia was the need for independence from foreign manufacturers producing spare parts, contributing to the development of domestically produced computers.
Development
Early computers In former Yugoslavia, at the end of 1962, there were 30 installed electronic computers. In 1966, there were 56, and in 1968, there were 95. After receiving specialised training in foreign computer institutes - in Paris in 1954 and 1955 (T. Aleksić and A. Mandžić); in Darmstadt and Vienna in 1959 (V. Masnikosa); in Cambridge in 1961 (P. Vrbanac) and in London in 1964 (D. Hristović) - engineers from the BK-Vincha Institute, later accompanied with engineers form the Michailo Pupin Institute in Belgrade, led by professor doctor Tihomir Aleksić, began the development of the first domestic computer hardwares in late 1950s. This project resulted in the creation of the CER series of computers (Cifarski Elektronski Računar - "Digital Electronic Computer" in english), beginning with the model CER-10, developed in Vincha in 1960, a computer based on vacuum tubes and electronic relays. By the year 1964, the development of the computer CER-20, which was intended to serve as an "electronic bookkeeping machine”, given the manufacturers recognition of the ever-growing accounting market, was finished. The special-purpose trend of business-computer development was continued with the creation of the CER-22 model in 1967. It was intended to be used in banks and communal businesses for online operations. There were also other CER models, such as the CER-12, CER-11, CER-111 and CER-200, but there is not much information available about them. During the late 1970s, the "Ei-Niš computer center" from Niš, Serbia, began constructing the Mainframe H6000 computer models under the licence Honeywell. They were intended to be used mainly for banking purposes. In the beginning, the computer was a great success, which led to the expansion of the local industry in areas lacking availability. The company also built models such as the H6 and H66, which remained popular even in early 2000s, under the name "Bull HN". The H6 models were assembled in enterprises like Telecom and ran the GCOS operating system. They were also used for education purposes - Honeywell's H6 model was installed in the "Nikola Tesla" school of electronic engineering and trade in Niš, and was used for education and training during the 80s, until the creation of personal computers.
Import Over time, as it began to be more apparent that the domestic science and industry were not yet in capacity to keep track with the global computer development, foreign computers were allowed to be imported in the country, under specific conditions and permits. Consequently, this led to the market being overdominated by foreign products, reducing the relative market share of locally produced computers. On the other hand, caused by the increasing demand on the market, systems made by local companies, such as Mihajlo Pupin Institute (initially CER series and later TIM series, e.g., TIM-100 and TIM-600) and Iskra Delta (e.g., model 800, based on the PDP-11/34) continued with their development during the 1970s, even into the 1980s.
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