Who wants to spend a week in beautiful Heidelberg Germany surrounded by the recipients of the ACM A.M. Turing Award and the ACM Prize in Computing? I do! In September, I had the unique opportunity to participate as part of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) international blog team. I got to watch 200 students from around the world have personal conversations about their research with some of the biggest names in our field. The evenings were spent dining in beautiful venues such as the Technik Museum Speyer and the Heidelberg Castle. Now it is YOUR chance (or your student’s chance) to come to the seventh HLF on September 22 to 27, 2019. ACM encourages young computer […]

The following Great Innovative Idea is from Ehsan Hoque, Asaro-Biggar (’92) Family assistant professor of Computer Science and interim Director of the Goergen Institute for Data Science at the University of Rochester. Hoque was a participant and presented a poster at the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Early Career Researcher Symposium, August 1-2, 2018. The Idea Imagine a future where computers can mediate a conversation toward more respectfulness and productivity, help a worker hone their job interview skills or assist a patient diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease by monitoring their symptoms. Our research focuses on developing AI to ethically augment and enhance humanity’s potential. In particular, my group applies machine learning techniques to model the synergy and ambiguity that language, facial […]

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 […]