In an effort to prepare for the next pandemic and perhaps aid in the current one, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), along with the National Academy of Engineering, hosted a virtual workshop entitled Role of Robotics in Infectious Disease Crises on July 9-10, 2020. Organized by Gregory Hager (The Johns Hopkins University), Vijay Kumar (The University of Pennsylvania), Robin Murphy (Texas A&M University), Daniela Rus (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Russell Taylor (The Johns Hopkins University), the workshop consisted of over forty participants including representatives from the engineering/robotics community, clinicians, critical care workers, public health and safety experts, and emergency responders. Today we are pleased to release the resulting report […]

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is pleased to announce the sponsorship of a Blue Sky Ideas Conference Track at the 20th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS-2021) on May 3-7, 2021.  The emphasis of this special track is on visionary ideas, long-term challenges, new research opportunities, and controversial debate. It serves as an incubator for innovative, risky, and provocative ideas, and aims to provide a forum for publishing and presenting these without being constrained by the result-oriented standards followed in the review process of the main track of the conference. Research visions and ideas could cross disciplines, envisioning new ideas, and directions relevant for Agents and Multi-Agent […]

Check out this recent podcast from the official podcast of the Santa Fe Institute (with a somewhat unorthodox title based on this book) that attempts to illuminate important aspects of communication and misinformation.  Host Michael Garfield talks with Former SFI External Professor Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West, both at the University of Washington, who recently translated their undergraduate course on Calling [BS] into a book from Penguin Random House.  From the episode description:  “In this episode, we discuss their backgrounds and ongoing work in the evolutionary dynamics and information theory of communication, how to stage a strong defense against disinformation, and the role of scientists and laypeople alike to help […]

While the Computing Research Association’s Computing Community Consortium (CCC) works to catalyze the computing community for the public good, we have rarely prepared talks suitable for the non-computer-scientist public. Fortunately, CCC Chair Emeritus Mark D. Hill of the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently prepared a well-received general-audience talk for Participatory Learning And Teaching Organization (PLATO), a senior organization that arranges informative lectures, classes, and field trips, all virtual now. Prof. Hill’s one-hour talk has the immodest title “How Computing May Change Our World” (YouTube Video & Slide PDF). It discusses that, while computing has already changed how we communicate, work, and play, more big impacts are afoot. Prof. Hill gives insight […]

The Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) is virtual this year! Like many things in 2020, it might not be the same experience, but the positive is that it can now be viewed by everyone here on the Livestream from 10AM- 4PM ET Monday (September 21st) through Thursday (September 24th).  Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Senior Program Associate Khari Douglas will be attending the virtual HLF to podcast and blog about the various talks and panels. Additionally, CCC Council member Shwetak Patel from the Univeristy of Washington will be talking on Tuesday, September 22nd at 10:30AM ET on Learning From Global Health Research to Address the Current Pandemic and then leading and participating […]

In 2009, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) published A Roadmap for US Robotics, From Internet to Robotics (a.k.a. the Robotics Roadmap), which explored the capacity of robotics to act as a key economic enabler, specifically in the areas of manufacturing, healthcare, and the service industry, 5, 10, and 15 years into the future. An updated version of the Robotics Roadmap was released in March 2013, November 2016, and now most recently in September 2020.  With the support of the CCC (and others on the cover), three community workshops took place 11-12 September 2019 in Chicago, IL, 17-18 October 2019 in Los Angeles, CA, and 15-16 November 2019 in Lowell, MA. […]