Nearly a year ago, tech writer John Markoff published a story in The New York Times about Open Source Indicators (OSI), a new program by the Federal government’s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) seeking to automatically collect publicly available data, including Web search queries, blog entries, Internet traffic flows, financial market indicators, traffic webcams, changes in Wikipedia entries, etc., to understand patterns of human communication, consumption, and movement. According to Markoff: It is intended to be an entirely automated system, a “data eye in the sky” without human intervention, according to the program proposal. The research would not be limited to political and economic events, but would also explore the ability to predict pandemics and other types […]

This past February in Arlington, VA, Yolanda Gil (University of Southern California Information Sciences Institute) and Haym Hirsh (Rutgers University) co-organized a workshop on discovery informatics, assembling over 50 participants from academia, industry, and government “to investigate the opportunities that scientific discoveries present to information sciences and intelligent systems as a new area of research called discovery informatics.” A report summarizing the key themes that emerged during discussions at that workshop is now available. From the executive summary: …[The] workshop’s participants identified an expansive range of fundamental research challenges for information and intelligent systems brought into focus by these three themes:   To improve computational discovery processes: We must understand […]

Network World is out with a list of the 25 “coolest” computer networking research projects: University labs, fueled with millions of dollars in funding and some of the biggest brains around, are bursting with new research into computer and networking technologies. Wireless networks, computer security and a general focus on shrinking things and making them faster are among the hottest areas, with some advances already making their way into the market. Among the projects highlighted (following the link):

The National Science Foundation (NSF) last week issued a new solicitation for its Secure and Trustworthy Computing (SaTC) program: Cyberspace — a global “virtual” village enabled by hyper-connected digital infrastructures – has transformed the daily lives of people for the better. Families and friends regardless of distance and location can see and talk with one another as if in the same room. Cyber economies create new opportunities. Every sector of the society, every discipline, has been transformed by cyberspace. Today it is no surprise that cyberspace is critical to our national priorities in commerce, education, energy, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and defense.   The rush to adopt cyberspace, however, has exposed its fragility. The […]

From The New York Times‘s Bits Blog: Rick Smolan, the photographer and impresario of media projects, has tackled all sorts of big subjects over the years, from countries (“A Day in the Life of Australia” in 1981) to drinking water (“Blue Planet Run” in 2007). He typically recruits about 100 photographers for each, and their work is crafted into classy coffee-table books of striking photographs and short essays.   But Mr. Smolan concedes that his current venture has been “by far the most challenging project we’ve done.”   Small wonder, given his target: Big Data.   Massive rivers of digital information are a snooze, visually. Yet that is the narrow, literal-minded […]

Earlier this month, Columbia University computer science professor Steven Bellovin was named the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) chief technologist, taking over for Princeton’s Ed Felten following the conclusion of his successful two-year term. In his first post on the Tech@FTC Blog, Bellovin wrote: I’m delighted to succeed Ed Felten as Chief Technologist of the Federal Trade Commission. He’s a hard act to follow! But what does the FTC do, and what is the role of a technologist?   The FTC polices the online marketplace. While that often involves addressing complex issues, one essential requirement is that companies must keep the promises they make to consumers. If an organization’s privacy policy says that […]