National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded researchers have more than doubled the knowledge of the functional areas of the human brain. NIH Director, Francis Collins, posted a Director’s Blog about a recent NIH funded study that was reported in the journal Nature, which brings the map of the human brain into much sharper focus. From the blog post: By combining multiple types of cutting-edge brain imaging data from more than 200 healthy young men and women, the researchers were able to subdivide the cerebral cortex, the brain’s outer layer, into 180 specific areas in each hemisphere. Remarkably, almost 100 of those areas had never before been described. This new high-resolution […]

The following blog post is by CCC Vice Chair and University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Mark D. Hill.  I write about a recent Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB), an operating unit within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, workshop report “Continuing Innovation in Information Technology.” This report updates famous “Tire Tracks” diagram for IT (Figure I.1, P. 5). Literally, “tire tracks” is a dense illustration of how federally-funded university research and industrial research and development (R&D) precede the emergence of large IT industries by decades. On one hand, this diagram shows “old” areas like Personal Computers that exceeded $1G annual revenue in the mid-1980s and then exceeded $10G the early 2000s. On the other hand, it […]

There are three National Science Foundation (NSF) webinars this Thursday, July 28th about three different solicitations. Read about them below and register to join one! PAWR Webinar The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) NSF 16-585 program aims to support advanced wireless research platforms conceived by the U.S. academic and industrial wireless research community. PAWR will enable experimental exploration of robust new wireless devices, communication techniques, networks, systems, and services that will revolutionize the nation’s wireless ecosystem, thereby enhancing broadband connectivity, leveraging the emerging Internet of Things (IoT), and sustaining US leadership and economic competitiveness for decades to come. In order to support the design, development, deployment, and operations of the advanced wireless research platforms, […]

The following is a guest blog post by CCC council member Klara Nahrstedt from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign and past CCC council member Ross Whitaker from University of Utah.  ‘Computing in the physical world’ themes are emerging rapidly within our urban and rural areas. Cyber-physical systems, Internet of Things technologies, Big Data analytics algorithms, and new computing sustainability paradigms are being discussed across government, industry, foundations, and academia. This was also the purpose of discussions during the ½ day event, called “Computing in the Physical World” at the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Symposium on Addressing National Priorities and Societal Needs. The “Computing in the Physical World” event […]

The following is a guest blog by Vasant G Honavar, Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Member, Edward Frymoyer Endowed Professor of Information Sciences and Technology, Professor of Computer Science, and Director of the Center for Big Data Analytics and Discovery Informatics at the Pennsylvania State University. It has long been recognized that many routine or manual blue collar work has been, and will continue to be, automated. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report predicts widespread disruption not only to business models as well as labor markets, due to the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” unleashed in part, by the advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, among other fields. The […]

The following is a guest blog by Beth Mynatt, Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Chair, Professor and Director of Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology.  Computing technology creates the core capabilities in many industry sectors including healthcare. Healthcare in particular is beset with many challenges. Despite over $3 trillion (over 17% GDP) of expenditures, approximately ¼ of hospital patients suffer preventable harm. By some accounts, healthcare errors are the 3rd leading cause of death in the US following heart disease and cancer. Complexity abounds. Older adults typically can often be prescribed 10 or more medications and must coordinate treatment by as many clinicians. Correspondingly clinicians are treating more patients. ICU […]