CCC Executive Council member Daniel Lopresti from Lehigh University and CCC Council member Sampath Kannan from the University of Pennsylvania provided contributions to this post. There is a conundrum between statistical access to data and privacy. The computing community has been working on this problem for years and came up with differential privacy as a solution, which is being implemented in the 2020 census, as described in this Computing Community Consortium (CCC) white paper on Privacy-Preserving Data Analysis for the Federal Statistical Agencies, and this recent NY Times article.  The CCC is now working on similar issues in fairness with a workshop on Fair Representations and Fair Interactive Learning. See the […]

Contributions to this post were provided by CCC Executive Council member, Daniel Lopresti from Lehigh University.  The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program (NITRD) Smart Cities and Communities (SCC) just released a Task Force Guide on “Connecting and Securing Communities: A Guide for Federal Agencies Supporting Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment of Technology for Smart Cities and Communities.” The purpose of this document is to guide and coordinate ongoing Federal activities that enhance the efforts of smart cities and communities and private sector partners. It describes recommended practices and approaches for research, development, coordination, and engagement by Federal agencies in support of U.S. cities and communities expanding their […]

The following is a letter to the community from James Kurose, Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE).   Dear Colleagues: The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is committed to maximizing the positive consequences of the research that it funds through inclusive research approaches. Indeed, a key component of CISE’s mission is to contribute to universal, transparent, and affordable participation in an information-based society. Some research practices and methods may carry biases and inequities that can in turn have significant impacts on the scientific community and broader society. The increased reliance on computing and information technologies may further […]

The following is a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) from James Kurose, Assistant Director for Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE), and Arthur Lupia, Assistant Director for Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE), of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal of this DCL, which specifically mentions the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) AI Roadmap, is to encourage the submission of EAGERs on understanding the social challenges arising from AI technology and enable scientific contribute to overcoming them.  Dear Colleagues: The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorates for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) together with the Partnership on AI (PAI) wish to notify the community of their interest in […]

The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National Coordination Office (NCO) put out a Request for Information (RFI) on the Federal cybersecurity R&D strategic plan. The updated plan will be used to guide and coordinate federally funded research in cybersecurity, including cybersecurity education and workforce development, and the development of consensus-based standards and best practices in cybersecurity. The most recent version of the strategic plan was released in February 2016. This strategic plan identifies four categories of defensive capabilities (deter, protect, detect, adapt) and six critical dependent areas (scientific foundations, risk management, human aspects, transition to practice, workforce development, and infrastructure for research) as the structure for focusing and coordinating Federal cybersecurity R&D activities. The […]

Last week we blogged about the Visioning Sessions at the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Early Career Researcher Symposium (ECR) but this week we will talk about our government sessions and subsequent discussions on day two. The ECR brought together 73 early career researchers and gave them the unique opportunity to meet agency representatives, hear presentations about the current science policy situation, and learn how they can reach out and get involved with the science policy community outside their institutions. Computing Research Association (CRA)’s Director of Government Affairs, Peter Harsha, gave an opening plenary on “Understanding Science Policy,” in which he stressed that even though we are in an administration that […]