Below is a call for submissions to the NSF Workshop on Sustainable Computing for Sustainability, which has been taken directly from the NSF-WSCS 2024 website.   The NSF Workshop on Sustainable Computing for Sustainability will be held at NSF in Alexandria, VA, on April 16-17, 2024.  The workshop seeks to identify open challenges in how to harness computing to tackle sustainability problems, and in ensuring that computing accounts for sustainability in its own development and operation. Due to space limitations, the workshop will follow a hybrid format with approximately 100 in-person attendees, and remote participation feasible through a zoom webinar.  The goal of this “Call for Submissions” is to help […]

  On Tuesday, the NSF announced the Responsible Design, Development, & Deployment of Technologies (ReDDDot) program, which aims to ensure both ethical and legal considerations from community and societal standpoints are established in the technology pipeline, from inception to deployment. This $16 million program will be a collaborative effort between the NSF and five philanthropic partners: the Ford Foundation, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Pivotal Ventures, Siegel Family Endowment, and the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation.   Below is more information from the program’s public announcement:   Who Can Submit Proposals: Multidisciplinary, multi-sector teams that demonstrate the principles, methodologies, and impacts associated with responsible design, development and […]

The 2024 AAAS Meeting will take place February 15th – 17th in Denver, Colorado. This conference, held annually since AAAS was established in 1848, is dedicated to advancing science and technology across all disciplines and helps bridge the gap between researchers and the public via media coverage of cutting-edge research.   This year, the Computing Community Consortium will sponsor three scientific sessions on various topics in computing: Generative AI in Science: Promises and Pitfalls  Moderator: Matthew Turk (Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago and CCC Council member) Panelists: Rebecca Willett (University of Chicago), Markus Buehler (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Duncan Watson-Parris (University of California San Diego) Large Language Models: Helpful […]

  At the 10th Heidelberg Laureate Forum, we spoke with panelist Dr. Margo Seltzer about women in computer science in the past decade. Today, Professor Seltzer, who is the Canada 150 Research Chair in Computer Systems and the Cheriton Family Chair in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, discusses how to raise those numbers. This article is a continuation of our interview with Dr. Seltzer. The first half of this interview can be viewed here.   QUESTION: “What can young researchers do to address the gender disparity in CS?”   ANSWER: “The most important message goes to both senior and junior researchers alike. This has been my mantra for […]

    Heads-up, Hollywood writers: We need an “L.A. Law” series that injects some high glamor into high tech. Just as the 80s-era legal drama burnished the appeal of high-stakes litigation, a well-written tech series might draw young people, particularly women, into computer science, said Dr. Margo Seltzer, the Cheriton Family Chair in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia in Canada, and former CCC Council member.   “When you think of a computer scientist,” Professor Seltzer said in a 2012 interview with Txnologist, you think of a “nerdy guy with no social skills and all he ever wants to do is program.” She hasn’t seen a great deal […]

During the 10th Heidelberg Laureate Forum last week, I had the opportunity to interview several of the laureates to hear their perspectives on current and future challenges in computing. Two of these laureates that I was fortunate enough to sit down with were Dr. Avi Wigderson and Dr. Yael Tauman Kalai (short bios are at the end of this blog).   With access to two leading experts in cryptography, I asked them both about the new era of cryptography we are entering, post-quantum cryptography (PQC).    RSA encryption, the most commonly used form of encryption today, was invented in 1977 by Ron Rivet, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman at MIT. […]