The National Science Foundation (NSF) needs YOU to help create the Big Ideas of the future! The NSF 2026 Idea Machine is a competition to help set the U.S. agenda for fundamental research in science and engineering. Participants can earn prizes and receive public recognition by suggesting the pressing research questions that need to be answered in the coming decade, the next set of “Big Ideas” for future investment by the NSF. It’s an opportunity for researchers, the public and other interested stakeholders to contribute to NSF’s mission to support basic research and enable new discoveries that drive the U.S. economy, enhance national security and advance knowledge to sustain the […]

Check out the following updates from the Global City Teams Challenge (GCTC) GCTC-SC3 Cybersecurity and Privacy Meeting Part 1 on Oct 3, 2018, in San Jose, California GCTC-SC3 Cybersecurity and Privacy Advisory Committee (AC) will have an in-person meeting co-located with the Smart City Security Symposium on Oct 3, 2018, in San Jose, California. As it’s imperative for SC3 to build cybersecurity and privacy, this Part 1 event marks an important milestone to support all SuperClusters and ActionClusters in their quest for robust security and privacy. Leaders will: identify challenges and best practices by embedding AC champions in each SuperCluster (AC has identified champions to embed in each SuperCluster and will email soon) socialize and […]

The National Science Foundation‘s Division of Materials Research (DMR), the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS), the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS), and the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) seek to rapidly accelerate quantum materials design, synthesis, characterization, and translation of fundamental materials engineering and information research for quantum devices, systems, and networks. The new program of Enabling Quantum Leap: Convergent Accelerated Discovery Foundries for Quantum Materials Science, Engineering, and Information (Q-AMASE-i) aims to support these goals by establishing Foundries with mid-scale infrastructure for rapid prototyping and development of quantum materials and devices. The new materials, devices, tools and methods developed by Q-AMASE-i will be shared with the science […]

The following Great Innovative Idea is from Mark Bernstein, the chief scientist at Eastgate Systems, Inc and Clare Hooper, an Independent Scholar in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Mark and Clare were winners at the recent Computing Community Consortium (CCC) sponsored Blue Sky Ideas Conference Track at the 29TH ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media, July 9-12, 2018 in Baltimore, MD. Their paper is called “A Villain’s Guide To Social Media And Web Science.” The Idea The great power and profitability of social media may not benefit the good and the bad alike; increasing evidence indicates that recent advances in data mining, social media, and web science all asymmetrically benefit the cruel, the dishonest, and the tyrant. Daily headlines reflect the appropriation and misuse of […]

The following is a letter from Dr. Valarie Browning, the Office Director in the Defense Science Office (DSO) at the Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). See the full summer 2018 newsletter here. Earlier this year, on February 7, 2018, DARPA quietly celebrated 60 years of innovation in support of national security. The Defense Sciences Office (DSO), the oldest of the current DARPA Tech Offices, has been identifying and creating scientific discovery to fuel innovation throughout the Agency for much of DARPA’s history. With the upcoming formal DARPA 60th Anniversary Symposium just around the corner, it’s a good time to reflect on where DSO has been and where we are going. […]

The following is from Sonynka Ngosso from the Office of Strategic Coordination at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announcing their new STRIDES (Science and Technology Research Infrastructure for Discovery, Experimentation, and Sustainability Initiative) initiative.  Dear Colleagues, Today NIH launched a new initiative to harness the power of commercial cloud computing and provide NIH biomedical researchers access to the most advanced, cost-effective computational infrastructure, tools, and services available.  The STRIDES (Science and Technology Research Infrastructure for Discovery, Experimentation, and Sustainability Initiative) Initiative counts Google Cloud as its first industry partner. In line with NIH’s first-ever Data Science Strategic Plan released in June, STRIDES will establish additional innovative public-private partnerships to broaden access to services and tools, including training for researchers […]