California State Assembly Commends Unisys for Opening 'Computer Age' 50 Years Ago With First Commercial Computer – UNIVAC I

SACRAMENTO, Calif., January 14, 2002 -- The California State Assembly today honored Unisys Corporation on the 50th Anniversary of the company's introduction of UNIVAC I, the nation's first mass-produced commercial computer, which opened the "Computer Age" and ignited the high tech industry so important to California's economy.

"We are proud of our company's legacy and groundbreaking role in the development of California's high tech, information technology industry, and proud to be honored by the California State Assembly," said Robert W. Johnson, vice president and general manager, Unisys North America Sales & Services.

Assembly Members Resolution No. 221, co-authored by Assembly Member Marco Firebaugh, 50th Assembly District and Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 5, on Information Technology and Transportation; and Assembly Member Manny Diaz, 23rd Assembly District and Chair of the Assembly Information Technology Subcommittee of the Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy; commends Unisys for "making the very first mass-produced computer, UNIVAC I, opening a whole new world of possibilities."

The Assembly Resolution notes that "in 1946 J. Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly started a company which had the goal of producing computers to be offered for sale in the commercial marketplace," and "after many years of struggle, they produced the UNIVAC I computer which was delivered to its first customer, the United States Census Bureau, in 1951."  Eventually 46 UNIVAC I computers were built.

UNIVAC, short for Universal Automatic Computer, was a large-scale, general-purpose commercial electronic computing system designed to satisfy the diverse needs of business management. Heralded by users as a fundamental management tool, the UNIVAC computer made possible a degree of management control never before realized by organizations in both the public and private sectors.

UNIVAC quickly became the acknowledged standard for technological innovation at the dawn of the Computer Age. After the United States Census Bureau became the first enterprise computer customer on June 14, 1951, when its UNIVAC I was officially put into service, UNIVAC added other government clients. They included the United States Air Force, the United States Army, and the Atomic Energy Commission. Soon, industry giants such as General Electric, Metropolitan Life, US Steel, and DuPont began ordering UNIVAC computers.

Even after a number of mergers and acquisitions in the past 50 years, Unisys remains at the forefront of the technology industry today with its production of ES7000 and Clear Path Plus high-end servers. The company has also significantly expanded its capabilities into networking, outsourcing, software development, systems integration and consulting services.