Contributions to this post were provided by Monica Lam and Jen King from Stanford University.  The New York Times recently published an article titled Stanford Team Aims at Alexa and Siri With a Privacy-Minded Alternative. Professor Monica Lam and her students, Giovanni Campagna, Silei Xu, Michael Fischer, and Mehrad Moradshahi, have developed a virtual assistant called Almond that can avoid surrendering personal information to a centralized service and encourage open competition among companies. She is joined by Stanford computer science researchers Michael Bernstein, Dan Boneh,  Jen King, James Landay, Chris Manning, and David Mazières, Chris Re in a newly funded NSF research grant to expand the capabilities and privacy protection […]

The population in this country is getting older, and yet, these aging individuals expect their homes to keep up with their changing needs. This so called “Aging in Place” is becoming more and more common. Researchers, like Computing Community Consortium (CCC) past chair Beth Mynatt, Regents’ Professor and Executive Director of the Institute for People and Technology at Georgia Tech, are working to develop assistive technologies to help these individuals continue to enjoy their home and live well. Beth’s work is highlighted in the July 2019 National Geographic Magazine. Here is a snippet from the feature: “Like other computer scientists, Elizabeth Mynatt uses cutting-edge tech. What sets her apart is her holistic, […]

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC), in conjunction with Schmidt Futures, will sponsor and administer a white paper competition on the future of “CS for Social Good,” in order to harness CS to address societal challenges such as: Accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy; Reducing the inter-generational transmission of poverty; Feeding 10 billion people while reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture; Reducing the time and cost for a low-income worker to gain a skill that is a ticket to the middle class; Using data to support evidence-based policy while protecting privacy and security; Reducing health care costs while maintaining or improving health outcomes; and Improving K-12 student learning outcomes in core academic subjects […]

On Friday, June 21st, the White House released an update to the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan: 2019 Update. Informed by responses from a recent Request for Information, see the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) response here; the updated R&D Plan defines the eight key priority areas for Federal investments in AI R&D. The 2016 R&D Plan laid a critical foundation for U.S. R&D priorities in artificial intelligence, and this latest version refreshes those priorities for the fast-changing AI landscape. The following eight strategic priorities are identified in the 2019 update: Strategy 1: Make long-term investments in AI research. Strategy 2: Develop effective methods for human-AI collaboration. Strategy 3: Understand […]

Smart and Secure Cities and Communities Challenge (GCTC/SC3) Expo The Smart and Secure Cities and Communities Challenge (GCTC/SC3) Expo is July 10-12, 2019 in Washington, DC. GCTC/SC3 will bring together hundreds of municipal governments and technology innovators around the world who have established teams to address shared issues faced by cities and communities. Registration is free but required! In addition to the sessions organized by the hosts at the GCTC/SC3 Expo, valuable sidebar events and networking opportunities are offered by partners. GCTC/SC3 Expo Sidebars Smart and Safe: Risk Reduction in Tomorrow’s Cities Panel and Reception Hosted by the EastWest Institute, in partnership with Microsoft and Unisys, Room 150B, 5:00-6:30pm, Thursday, […]

A new episode of the Catalyzing Computing podcast is now available. In this episode, Khari Douglas continues his interview with Peter Harsha, the Director of Government Affairs for the Computing Research Association (CRA), to discuss the impact of the 2013 budget sequestration on federal funding for science, the recent push for regulations on foreign research collaborations, and the history of CRA. Stream in the embedded player below or find the podcast on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Play | Youtube. Have question for Peter about federal funding for computing and science research? Send your questions to cccpodcastletters@cra.org and we’ll answer them on a future episode! If you listen to the podcast, please take a moment […]