The following is a guest blog from John Langford (Microsoft Research) and Stefano Tessaro (University of Washington) on finding the right information architecture for digital contact tracing. The information architecture of a system defines who has access to which pieces of information. Contact Tracing is inherently a process of data collection — therefore, the choice of information architecture has a profound effect on who is willing to work with the system and how effective it may be. In order to rationally consider the information architecture, we must define a goal for the system. Clearly, the primary goal must be epidemiological effectiveness in suppressing the spread of disease, but how should […]

The following is a guest blog post from Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council member Katie Siek, Indiana University.  Automated, proximity-based contact tracing apps use Bluetooth to identify who is near them. In theory, this is a great solution that can be efficiently deployed widely (albeit with many privacy and protocol considerations addressed here), however the assumption is that people have access to mobile phones with Bluetooth and use technology similarly. We know that not everyone has access to smartphones. Pew notes that approximately 70% of Americans who make less than $30,000 a year own a smartphone. Similar stats are seen for Americans who live in rural areas and those with […]

About a month ago, at the beginning of this pandemic, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) blogged about Running a Virtual Conference and highlighted Blair MacIntyre, a professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing and IEEE VR conference co-chair, and Kyle Johnsen, an associate professor in the University of Georgia’s College of Engineering, when they transitioned the IEEE VR 2020 Conference to an all-virtual event. See that blog here. Since then, the research community has started to adjust to this new normal and transition to virtual conferences. This includes the ACM Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems (ASPLOS 2020), which was also held online in March. […]

Passing along this opportunity from TechCongress, an organization focused on bringing technologists and researchers into the halls of Congress to help raise the tech IQ of policymakers and policymaking…  The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed Congress into a remote and virtual institution literally overnight. Capitol Hill was not prepared for this moment and is now confronting a number of urgent digital challenges. Help modernize the digital infrastructure of Congress! TechCongress has launched a Congressional Digital Service Fellowship to recruit a small collaborative tech team for an eight month fellowship to help Congress manage. Learn more from their blog here. This is limited term fellowship in order to: Meet the immediate need […]

The following is a letter to the community from Margaret Martonosi Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE). April 24, 2020 Dear Colleagues, The National Science Foundation (NSF) is aware of the disruption to undergraduate employment and education opportunities caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We understand that many internships are being canceled, leaving students without expected opportunities this Summer.  The Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) previously issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL; NSF 20-016) expressing interest in funding supplements to active CISE awards for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), consistent with NSF’s REU Sites and Supplements solicitation (NSF […]

The following is a letter to the community from Micaela S. Parker, Executive Director of the Academic Data Science Alliance (ADSA). ADSA was launched in May 2019 to provide an independent national resource network for academic data science leaders, practitioners, and educators to connect and exchange ideas, and to advance the uptake of data science best practices in higher education. Dear Colleagues, The Academic Data Science Alliance is working with partners to pull together data sets and data science resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Initiated by conversations with Columbia, NYU, UC Berkeley, and the University of Washington, universities in three regions of the U.S. hit hard by the coronavirus, we invite the […]