The following is a guest blog post by Dr. Robin Murphy, Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Faculty Fellow for Innovation in High-Impact Learning Experiences at Texas A&M University.  The Nepal earthquake illustrates the need for critical real-time computing and information systems, dubbed “CRICIS computing” by a 2012 NSF/CCC visioning workshop. The findings from the CRICIS report still hold: that disasters require “fundamental new research in socio-technical systems that enable decision-making for
extreme scales under extreme conditions. This research cuts across physical and engineered artifacts, information technology, and human-computer collaboration. It is an example of the general shift in science and industry from physical devices and computational packages to socio-technical information systems […]

The Computing Research Association (CRA), in consultation with the National Science Foundation (NSF), has appointed five new members to the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council: Cynthia Dwork, Microsoft Research Kevin Fu, University of Michigan Daniel P. Lopresti, Lehigh University Shwetak Patel, University of Washington Katherine Yelick, University of California at Berkeley Beginning July 1, the new members will each serve three-year terms. The CCC Council is comprised of 20 members who have expertise in diverse areas of computing. They are instrumental in leading CCC’s visioning programs, which help create and enable visions for future computing research. Members serve staggered three-year terms that rotate every July. The CCC and CRA thank […]

The following Great Innovative Idea is from Dr. Xiaojin (Jerry) Zhu, Associate Professor of Computer Science at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Zhu’s paper Machine Teaching: an Inverse Problem to Machine Learning and an Approach Toward Optimal Education won the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) sponsored Blue Sky Ideas Conference Track series at the 29th Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-15), January 25-30, 2015 in Austin, Texas. The Innovative Idea Machine teaching is machine learning turned upside down: it is about finding the optimal (e.g. the smallest) training set.  For example, consider a “student” who runs the Support Vector Machine learning algorithm.  Imagine a teacher who wants to teach the student a specific target hyperplane in some […]

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is delighted to announce a new feature on our website! Great Innovative Ideas are a way to showcase the exciting new research and ideas generated by the computing community. Once a month we will post an article highlighting new research going on in the field and ideas generated by our colleagues. This feature will replace the Highlight of the Week. All previously posted highlights of the week are archived here. A few of the ideas showcased in Great Innovative Ideas will be from the CCC Blue Sky Ideas Conference Track, including our first Great Innovative Idea from Marian Petre (Open University) and Daniela Damian (University of […]

The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) Awards Program identifies and honors members of the geospatial community who have extraordinary records of accomplishments, including service to the mission of UCGIS. This year, the top honor for education goes to Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council member Dr. Shashi Shekhar of the University of Minnesota, for his expansion and strengthening of Geographic Information Science education. From the UCGIS announcement: Shashi Shekhar, the McKnight Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Minnesota, was singled out for our Education Award. Dr. Shekhar has left a mark at every level of GIScience education. In 2003, Dr. Shekhar co-authored a textbook […]

The organizing committee for the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Trans-NIH/Interagency Workshop on the Use and Development of Assistive Technology for the Aging Population and People with Chronic Disabilities have released their workshop report. CCC partnered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and hosted the visioning workshop which focused on technologies that will allow older adults and people with disabilities to “age in place,” remain in their homes longer, reduce health care costs and enhance quality of life. The workshop engaged a diverse set of experts – computer science researchers, medical practitioners, and government officials from numerous agencies (NIH, NSF, NIDRR, HUD, VA, FDA, CMS).  Videos of the workshop presentations as well as […]