On September 10-11, the CCC co-hosted a visioning workshop 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. CCC partnered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to organize the “Trans-NIH/Interagency Workshop on the Use and Development of Assistive Technology for the Aging Population and People with Chronic Disabilities.” Held on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD, the engaging workshop brought together a diverse set of experts – computer science researchers, medical practitioners, and government officials from numerous agencies (NIH, NSF, NIDRR, HUD, VA, FDA, CMS), to chart a course […]

The following is a special contribution to this blog by Jane Stout, Director of CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP).   The CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP) has published a report on the topic of Industry versus Academic Postdocs in computing. The report uses both survey and focus group data to assess the experiences of individuals who have completed a computing related postdoc in either an industry or academic setting. Findings suggest that Industry Postdocs feel better able to manage professional responsibilities, have better relationships with their advisor and feel more welcomed in the work environment compared to Academic Postdocs. Through comparing and contrasting postdocs’ experiences in the two settings, CERP’s report sheds […]

On July 31, 2014, Dr. Farnam Jahanian, Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), announced the appointment of Dr. Lynne Parker as the new Division Director for the Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS) Division within the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate.  Below is Dr. Jahanian’s letter to the CISE community. Dear CISE Community, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Lynne E. Parker to the position of Division Director for the CISE Division of Information & Intelligent Systems (IIS), effective January 2015.  She will be joining NSF from The University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UTK), where she is Professor and Associate Head in the Department of Electrical Engineering […]

In 2009, President Obama issued a Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government.  That memorandum has been followed by additional memorandums and Executive Orders resulting in the Open Government Initiative.  As a result of this initiative, governments (both federal and local) are releasing data feeds, which have enabled the creation and use of new applications, from real-time accurate traffic information to localized crime reporting. While the Initiative is presented as “an unqualified good” there are some questions about the impact on citizens.  As such, the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology and Microsoft have issued an RFP to further explore the technical, legal, and regulatory implications of Open Data.  From the solicitation: The […]

  We often hear about the dearth of women in computer science and engineering fields. Many organizations are working hard to attract and retain women in these fields. In an article titled 22 Most Powerful Women Engineers In the World, Business Insider showcases powerful women engineers.  From the article: There’s a huge push these days to encourage more girls to learn to code and to hire more women engineers once they graduate. The tech industry knows it can’t fill all the jobs it has while discouraging half the population from joining the industry. It also knows that it can’t do a good job of designing new tech products for women if women aren’t part of the […]

The 15th Annual Microsoft Research Faculty Summit is taking place July 14-15, 2014 in Redmond, WA.  There is an exciting program planned with topics including computing devices and the Internet of Things, hardware-software co-design, data visualization, crowdsourcing applications, machine learning, and the algorithms that underlie emerging fields, such as computational neuroscience.  If you’re not going to be in Redmond, you can still be a part of the action, as the event will be live streamed for all to see. Last year’s Research Faculty Summit was a huge success, you can read about in this blog post by Ed Lazowska.  This year looks to be just as promising!