The following is a joint Dear Colleague Letter from eight Assistant Directors at the National Science Foundation – Susan S. Margulies (Directorate for Engineering), Sean L. Jones (Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences), Simon Malcomber (Directorate for Biological Sciences), Margaret Martonosi (Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering), Alexandra R. Isern (Directorate for Geosciences), Sylvia M. Butterfield (Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences),  James L. Moore III (Directorate for STEM Education) and Erwin Gianchandani (Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships). With this DCL, the National Science Foundation (NSF) invites interdisciplinary groups of Principal Investigators (PIs) to develop potentially transformative, convergent, fundamental research proposals in the area of clean energy […]

Computing Community Consortium (CCC) council member David Danks was recently featured on ACM News for his involvement in a CCC-sponsored scientific session at AAAS 2023 “Maintaining a Rich Breadth for Artificial Intelligence.” The session featured discussions highlighting the importance of incorporating a broad range of multi-discipline research and expertise. Panelists recognized that neural networks and deep learning have driven progress in AI over the year resulting in an imbalance and dominance of these disciplines in AI research. These silos can stunt the development of AI and lead to missed opportunities for growth in the field. Accompanied by panelists Melanie Mitchell and Bo Li, David Danks discussion topic: “Let a Thousand […]

The American Academy of Arts and Science (AAAS) recently announced 269 new members elected to the academy. Among them are nine new members under the “computer science” category, including several that have worked closely with the Computing Research Association, CRA-Widening Participation, and  Computing Community Consortium in the past.  The Academy is an honorary society that recognizes outstanding individuals across all disciplines, perspectives, and professions. Founded in 1780 the American Academy of Arts and Science brings together cutting-edge researchers to examine new ideas and work together to  “cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.” Please […]

April was a big month for the Computing Community Consortium, releasing two workshop reports and one white paper on pressing topics within the computing research community. Overviews of each, as well as individual links to corresponding blog posts are listed below. CCC Releases the Artificial Intelligence/Operations Research Workshop II Report Out In August of 2022, the second AI/OR workshop was held in Atlanta, GA. The second workshop in a three-part series, also supported by INFORMS and ACM SIGAI, was organized by John Dickerson (University of Maryland), Bistra Dilkina (University of Southern California), Yu Ding (Texas A&M), Swati Gupta (Georgia Institute of Technology), Pascal Van Hentenryck (Georgia Institute of Technology), Sven Koenig (University of Southern California), Ramayya Krishnan (Carnegie Mellon University), and Radhika Kulkarni (SAS […]

The Department of Commerce has released a request for comment on AI Accountability Policy. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is requesting comments on AI system accountability measures and policies. The comments will help the administration to draft and issue a report on AI accountability policy development focusing on AI assurance ecosystems. Comments are due June 10th, 2023. Summary: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) hereby requests comments on Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) system accountability measures and policies. This request focuses on self-regulatory, regulatory, and other measures and policies that are designed to provide reliable evidence to external stakeholders – that is, to provide assurance – – that AI systems […]

Continuing in our AAAS panel recaps, the CCC hosted a panel titled, “Sustaining Computing Research Communities in a Hybrid World”. The panelists were Brent Hecht (Microsoft), Richard Ladner (University of Washington), and Cristina Videira Lopes (University of California, Irvine), and the panel was moderated by Sujata Banerjee (VMware).   During the hybrid 2023 AAAS conference, there were many issues with virtual capability, culminating in an announcement on the morning of the second day that the organizers made the decision to shift to an in-person only conference. This was a disappointing technological failure, but it highlighted the difficulties that arise from hybrid conferences, which these panelists discussed at length.   Dr. […]