At the Computing Research Association’s (CRA) biennial Snowbird Conference today, the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) will roll out a new report — “Continuing Innovation in Information Technology” — updating the widely known “tire tracks” diagram that links government investments in academic and industry research to the creation of new information technology industries that drive our economy. According to the report (click on the link below to read more and see the new “tire tracks” figure!):

(This post has been updated; please scroll down for the latest.) The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has announced plans for a daylong event this fall marking its 60th anniversary. The conference and exhibit — titled “A Force of Discovery: 60 Years of Air Force Basic Research” — will take place in Arlington, Virginia, on Friday, October 12th, and aims to “offer significant potential for enhanced collaboration and relationship building.” According to AFOSR (following the jump):

As our colleagues on CRA’s Policy Blog have just noted, it appears Arati Prabhakar has been named the next director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Quoting a memo to DARPA staff: Dr. Prabhakar has spent her career advancing technology in support of both national security and the private sector, from early research and development through production. Dr. Prabhakar served from 1986 to 1993 at DARPA, first as program manager and then as founding director of the Microelectronics Technology Office. In 1993, President Clinton appointed Dr. Prabhakar as the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she led the 3,000-person organization in its work with companies […]

The National Coordination Office (NCO) for the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program — the Federal program that provides a framework and mechanisms for coordination among 15 Federal agencies collectively investing over $4 billion annually in networking and information technology research and development — has announced plans to hold the third in a series of workshops to bring together experts from academia and industry to help “create and implement a plan to facilitate research, development, experimentation, and testing by researchers to explore innovative spectrum-sharing technologies, including those that are secure and resilient.” The workshop will take place on July 24, 2012, in Boulder, Colorado. According to the announcement (following the […]

(This post has been updated; please scroll down for the latest.) Last December, we blogged about changes in the number of new Ph.D.s in computer science — a slight increase between 2009 and 2010, but the “fastest growth” of all science and engineering disciplines during the 10-year period ending in 2010, according to data from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) annual Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED). Well, NSF is now out with more data, this time describing trends among graduate students and postdoctoral fellows — and the numbers are quite striking for computing (details after the jump).

Yesterday we blogged in this space about a ‘big data’ briefing held in downtown Washington, DC, earlier this week, one that emphasized the exponential growth in data that we are witnessing with each passing day. IBM Research’s David McQueeney noted how corporations recognize there are huge opportunities if they can “master the tsunami of data.” Well, what about something as simple as one’s e-reader? We can assume these days that if a device is digital, then it is tracking and storing information about its user. So how can an e-reader help businesses grow — and what are the consequences for consumers? The Wall Street Journal has published an interesting article — “Your E-Book is […]