Developments in data collection and processing for electronic experiments

There seem to be no signs of stagnation in the development of data acquisition and processing systems. The history of computerized instrumentation has entered a second decade with new problems posed by the advent of new accelerators, storage rings, powerful detectors, large spectrometer magnets, etc. New technologies such as integrated circuits, minicomputers and data communication systems now allow us to attack problems in new ways. To contribute to this discussion, I shall indicate those developments being carried out at CERN that, in my opinion, are fairly representative of the new trends. I can see three major areas of endeavour over the very wide range covered by data handling activities in High-Energy Physics laboratories: the concern for better on-line facilities, for large capacity data storage and for faster data processing.