As we start to embed sensing, computing, and communication into previously “dumb” infrastructure, there are clear benefits but it also creates new and challenging threats to safety, security, and privacy. How we address these threats is critical because, with cyber-physical systems, security vulnerabilities can translate directly to public safety hazards. Recently, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) in collaboration with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA) released white papers describing a collective research agenda for intelligent infrastructure. We will be blogging about each paper over the next few weeks. Today, we highlight the Safety and Security for Intelligent Infrastructure white paper. These threats occur in multiple forms (from information leakage to petty cybercrime to cyberwar) […]

Check out the following updates from Data Science at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Highlights and video of selected presentations from the May 16-18 BD2K-LINCS Data Science Symposium are now available on the BD2K Centers Coordinating Center website. See researchers from the Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) program describe “Global Analysis and Visualization of the Thousands of Expression Signatures for Drug and Target Discovery.” Data Science Opportunities: The NIH, under the BD2K program, will be launching a Data Commons Pilot Phase to test ways to store, access, and share FAIR biomedical data and associated tools in the cloud. The NIH Data Commons Pilot Phase is expected to […]

The following is a guest blog post by CRA Government Affairs Director, Peter Harsha. The deadline has been extended to June 23, 2017.  As part of its mission to develop a next generation of leaders in the computing research community, the Computing Research Association‘s Computing Community Consortium (CCC) announces the fourth offering of the CCC Leadership in Science Policy Institute (LiSPI), intended to educate computing researchers on how science policy in the U.S. is formulated and how our government works. We seek nominations for participants. LiSPI will be centered around a two-day workshop to be held November 6 – 7, 2017, in Washington, DC. (Full details of LiSPI are available here.) […]

Contributions to the following blog were made by former CCC Chair Gregory Hager and CCC Director Ann Drobnis.  We all know there is a lot of data out there, and the amount of data is growing rapidly – 2500 petabyes a day by some estimates. For data-driven fields such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the availability of massive amounts of data and vast advances in computing power have now brought us to a unique and exciting phase where the availability of data is a major factor shaping the evolution of AI research. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) recently released report called 10 Steps Congress Can Take to Accelerate Data […]

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the release of a draft Special Publication (SP) on Securing Wireless Infusion Pumps in Healthcare Delivery Organizations, which is now available for public comment. This is an important area that Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council member Kevin Fu from the University of Michigan has been working in for many years. In February 2016, Fu attended the White House meeting of medical device security stakeholders and domain experts to discuss the cybersecurity challenges faced by healthcare delivery organizations and medical device manufacturers. In March 2017, the New York Times released an article called It’s Possible to Hack a Phone With Sound Waves, Researchers Show, which highlights Fu’s […]

The following is a letter to the community from Jim Kurose, Assistant Director (AD) and Erwin Gianchandani, Deputy AD of the National Science Foundation‘s Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) regarding the FY2018 Budget Request that was released yesterday.  Dear CISE Community, Each year, the President transmits to Congress a budget request for the Executive Branch of the Federal government, including a request for the National Science Foundation (NSF).  Today, the President officially submitted that request for fiscal year (FY) 2018, which begins October 1, 2017, and continues through September 30, 2018.  The President’s FY 2018 Budget Request proposes $6.6 billion for NSF (a decrease of 11.1% from […]