Apologies for multiple postings Bernardo (Bangor U, Wales)
NEW HISTORY ON THE COMPUTERISATION OF A SPANISH FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
A new book on the processes of computerisation and technological and organisational change of a Spanish financial institution is available in a free access online version and in paperback: La Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelona – “la Caixa”, from 1950 to 2011. Throughout the 20th century, "la Caixa" has been one of the main European savings banks and is currently the leading savings bank in Spain and the third largest financial entity in the country, doing its banking activity indirectly through CaixaBank. This is a savings bank which, in the sixties, was one of the first financial institutions which implemented ONLINE, REAL TIME TELEPROCESSING SYSTEMS. The book analyses its processes of technological change which occurred after the WW2 which permitted a substantial qualitative leap from classical electromechanical systems to the first computers. Visits to its European counterparts to get to know new technologies on data processing and the collaboration processes in the field of International Savings Banks Institute (ISBI) characterise the starting point in the nineteen fifties. On this basis, the first computers were introduced which, once third generation computers arrived, permitted the implementation of I.T. connections between a dense network of branches and offices via teleprocessing. The interest that this institution can cause resides in the fact that it has maintained its technological leadership until the present day: "la Caixa" is currently the leader of CONTACTLESS TECHNOLOGY at international scale and in 2011, it received the award for the most innovative bank in the Global Banking Innovation Awards (Bank Administration Institute and Finacle).
Although the book is only accessible in Spanish and Catalan, it is recommended that non-Spanish readers consult a wide span of figures, photographs of I.T. teams of a very different nature, data storage systems and other machines used in different periods for financial companies. Also, the book contains some technical schema which reflect the configuration of the first public and private networks of teleprocessing to arrive in modern communication systems.
Spanish edition: J. Carles Maixé-Altés (2012): Innovación y compromiso social. 60 años de informatización y crecimiento, "la Caixa" 1950-2011. Barcelona, "la Caixa" - Edicions 62.
available online: http://hdl.handle.net/2183/10101
Catalan edition: Innovació i compromís social. 60 anys d'informatització i creixement, "la Caixa" 1950-2011. Barcelona, "la Caixa" - Edicions 62.
avalaible online: http://hdl.handle.net/2183/10102