NSA releases copy of internal lecture delivered by computing giant Rear Adm. Grace Hopper
FORT MEADE, Md. — In one of the more unique public proactive transparency record releases for the National Security Agency (NSA) to date, NSA has released a digital copy of a lecture that then-Capt.
While NSA did not possess the equipment required to access the footage from the media format in which it was preserved, NSA deemed the footage to be of significant public interest and requested assistance from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to retrieve the footage. NARA’s Special Media Department was able to retrieve the footage contained on two 1" AMPEX tapes and transferred the footage to NSA to be reviewed for public release.
This was a story a couple of months ago. Glad it worked out.
Yeah, I was shocked to see it pop up in my mastodon feed this morning. After denying several FOIA requests I figured they'd keep it buried out of spite.
This is the only update I've seen from it. Thank you for posting this.
Having just watched the lecture, the only classified info I can recognize is the capabilities of 80s era satellites.
Given that, I think it's quite a shame that the whole thing is only now available. Rear Admiral Hopper seems to have been someone who deeply understood both computers and people. The prescriptions she gives regarding "systems of computers" and "management" vs "leadership", to name just two, are spot-on. Her lecture is quite grounded in what I'd call "military thinking", but that's just because she's in a room filled with people who are of that life. In my opinion, everything she talks about is applicable to communities and businesses.
The general gist of the entire ~90mins reminds me of Project Cybersyn in its perspective on how computers could serve society.
Any parallels with the "mythical man month" book?
Quite the prescient creature she was.
