Surely, it Is difficult for me to report on a project with which I have had many 
points in common. ECRC, the laboratory of Bull, ICL, and Siemens which I had the 
role to direct in its formation years had a lot to share with ICOT, in spirit if not in 
practice. I hope that my comments will not be distorted by what I would like others 
to think about ECRC's own role, achievements and problems. 

First I want to command the ICOT management for getting external viewpoints, 
for opening wide their doors, and for letting so much of their work be discussed. 

1 SUMMARY 

The scientific success of the FGCS project is not to be disputed. There has been 
innovative work, there has been deep and thorough work yielding a better understand-
ing of issues which would otherwise not have progressed as much. 

The technical achievements of ICOT are impressive. Given the novelty of the ap-
proaches, the lack of background, the difficulties to be solved, the amount of work done 
which has delivered something of interest is purely amazing; this is true in hardware as 
well as in software. The number of alternatives explored must have generated a large 
body of knowledge which, if it can be shared will prove to be a major return for all of 
us. The steps taken to provide free software for all is definitely a positive one, even if 
it is currently hampered by the absence of hardware available to run it or by lack of 
specifications available to all, as appears to be the case for e.g. KL1. Whether many 
people will take advantage of this offer remains to be seen because it appears to be 
difficult to take only bits and pieces of it. 

The scientific vision of the ICOT management and of their sponsors has been main-
tained all over these years, and it must have been a very challenging task; they must 
be complimented for holding firm to their technical vision. The enthusiasm behind this 
vision has had positive effect on the whole community across the world, leading others 
to take actions, if not to follow the approach that ICOT was pursuing. 

The fulfillment of the vision, should I say working on the 'grand plan' and bringing 
benefits to the Society, is definitely not at the level that some people anticipated when 


					- 63 -