Great Britain

Great Britain´s response to Japan´s fifth-generation computer program will be a doubling of research in information technology through a new cooperative program funded by industry, by its Science and Engineering Research Council, its Department of Industry, and its Ministry of Defence. The effort will concentrate on four areas of research: very large-scale integration (VLSI), software engineering, intelligent knowledge-based systems, and man-machine interfaces. Although the objective of developing fifth-generation computers is not explicitly stated, this will undoubtedly be one of the by-products. The British program is expected to cost some $500 million over the course of its five-year life.