An interesting article in The Atlantic by computer scientist Ben Schneiderman on “an ecological model of research and development.” Donald Stokes (Pasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation, 1997) stresses work that is motivated by both considerations for use and fundamental understanding …   Stokes and many other analysts provide a rigorous foundation for those who see value in the combined pursuit of basic and applied research, who believe that practical and theoretical work fit together well, and that mission-driven and curiosity-driven research invigorate each other. While Stokes advocates “use-inspired basic research”, this author adds “theory-inspired applied research.” In short, I am raising the expectations for researchers or all kinds; […]

In two articles in Science – the flagship publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science – CCC Chair Ed Lazowska is interviewed on career futures in Computer Science.  An example from an extensive Q&A: Q: What’s new and emerging in computer science? If you were in training today, about to choose a thesis area, what subfields would you look at? E.L.: Computer science is a field of limitless opportunity, and limitless impact. We are terrible at predicting the future: We overestimate what can be achieved in 10 years, and we underestimate what can be achieved in 50. Look back 10 or 12 years. Did we foresee the […]

As we enter the second year of the Federal “Big Data Initiative,” the Administration is encouraging multiple stakeholders to develop and participate in Big Data innovation projects across the country. Later this year, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, NSF, and other agencies plan to convene an event that highlights high-impact collaborations and identifies areas for expanded collaboration between the public and private sectors. The Administration is particularly interested in projects and initiatives that: Advance technologies that support Big Data and data analytics; Educate and expand the Big Data workforce; Develop, demonstrate and evaluate applications of Big Data that improve key outcomes in economic growth, job creation, education, health, […]

The Computing Community Consortium is seeking community input to better understand the potential needs and payoff for additional investments in mid-scale infrastructure for computing research. NSF spends significantly less on shared research infrastructure for computing research than it does for many other fields. By “shared research infrastructure” we mean experimental hardware and/or software and associated instrumentation that serves a significant portion of the research community (versus a small set of investigators). In other fields, such shared research infrastructure includes equipment such as telescopes, ocean observatories, supercomputers, and field stations. We specifically are interested in “mid-scale” infrastructure investments, defined as investments of over $4 million but under $100 million. GENI, PlanetLab, […]

Yesterday we posted a link to a terrific new video by code.org extolling the virtues of learning to program. Despite the “learn to code” rhetoric, code.org is really about “computer science is cool” and “let’s make AP computer science universally available.”  “Coding” is used as a proxy for this.  And indeed, “coding” is a critical component of computer science / computational thinking, and it’s also the “hands-on inquiry-based vehicle” for teaching computer science / computational thinking.  But it’s not the entire story:  computer science / computational thinking is much more than coding. What’s your best analogy?  For example: Coding is to computer science as cinematography is to filmmaking. Probably not […]

Please bring the Code.org website and GREAT new inspirational video to the attention of all students, teachers, and parents you’re able to reach through your organization’s K-12 outreach efforts! The video features some of the top names from technology and the world at large – from Bill Gates to will.i.am.