The fields of Cybersecurity and Public Health possess many similar attributes. For one, both fields prioritize prevention over reaction in the case of cyber attacks or outbreaks, and both quickly begin focusing on tracking and containment when preventative measures fail. Experts in both fields strive to build resilient systems to mitigate vulnerabilities and rely heavily on communication and public awareness to mitigate cyber and health risks, especially during outbreaks or hacks.   Cybersecurity today, much like Public Health in the 19th and early 20th centuries, faces challenges in measuring and improving outcomes at a population level, and lacks a comprehensive framework to measure its effectiveness at a large scale. […]

  In the near future, robots may assist humans in a near-endless variety of applications — as teaching assistants in schools, in dangerous search and rescue efforts in disaster situations, and in ocean cleanup efforts, to name a few possibilities. In some areas, robots are already supporting humans in carrying out daily activities, such as robots assisting warehouse workers with retrieving and packaging products. While robotics research offers tremendous potential to improve our quality of life, a key challenge lies in developing a skilled workforce to drive these innovations.   CCC recently led the development of a CRA Quadrennial Paper on this topic, titled Imperative for Education the Next Generation […]

We are pleased to announce that today CRA is releasing the 2024-2025 Quadrennial Paper Series. Every four years, the Computing Research Association, through its subcommittees, publishes a series of Quadrennial white papers that explore areas and issues around computing research with the potential to address national priorities. These Quad Papers aim to portray a comprehensive picture of the computing research field, detailing potential research directions, challenges, and recommendations.    This release includes six papers, five of which were led by members of the Computing Community Consortium’s council and members of the computing research community. Additional papers will be released in the coming weeks and months.   Setting a Course for […]

The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National Coordination Office (NCO) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released a request for information (RFI) on Federal Priorities for Information Integrity Research and Development. The purpose of the RFI is to gain input on how to “enable research and development activities to advance the trustworthiness of information, mitigate the effects of information manipulation, and foster an environment of trust and resilience in which individuals can be discerning consumers of information.” There is so much information on the internet these days and so few ways for the general public to verify what is true and what is not. This has […]

Contributions to this post were provided by Elizabeth Bradley (University of Colorado Boulder), Madhav Marathe (University of Virginia), Melanie Moses (The University of New Mexico), William D. Gropp (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), and Daniel Lopresti (Lehigh University).  We are pleased to announce the second addendum to the Computing Research Association (CRA) and Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Pandemic Informatics: Preparation, Robustness, and Resilience quadrennial paper on variants of concern (VOC).    A year ago, few experts correctly predicted the toll the pandemic has now taken, nor the extraordinarily rapid development and administration of effective vaccines. Scientists have dramatically increased understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, treatment, and vaccines. Yet, where the pandemic will […]

In October 2020, the Computing Research Association (CRA) and the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) released more than a dozen white papers exploring areas and issues around computing research with the potential to address national priorities over the next four years. Called “Quadrennial Papers,” the white papers attempt to portray a broad picture of computing research detailing potential research directions, challenges, and recommendations for policymakers and the computing research community. As a continuation of our 2020 series, we are delighted to release two more papers titled: “Taking Stock of the Present and Future of Smart Technologies for Older Adults and Caregivers” and “Imagine All the People: Citizen Science, Artificial Intelligence, and […]