Last year, the Computing Community Consortium and CRA’s Government Affairs Committee held the first Leadership in Science Policy Institute.  A total of 35 participants attended the institute, which featured a series of presentations from science policy experts, current and former Hill staff, and relevant agency and Administration officials.  Topics included the mechanics of the legislative process, serving on advisory committees, and interfacing with Federal agencies. A second Leadership in Science Policy Institute will be held April 11-12, 2013 in Washington, DC. Please discuss this opportunity with your colleagues, identify those you believe would be interested in participating, and submit nominations! The deadline is Real Soon Now – December 14!

The CCC is sponsoring another in its series of “Challeges and Visions” tracks at the 6th Biennial Conference on Innovative Data Systems Research (CIDR) January 6-9, Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA. As part of its mission to identify major new research opportunities, the CCC sponsors “challenges and visions” sessions at several conferences. The goal of these sessions is to break free of the shackles of the normal reviewing process while still requiring a paper.  In this way, a “challenges and visions” session differs from a “midnight session” of informal talks, in that the paper allows the ideas presented to be more broadly accessible. CCC has sponsored eight such sessions […]

The Computing Research Association has adopted a set of “best practices” for postdocs, the result of work done by Anita Jones and Erwin Gianchandani under the auspices of CRA’s Computing Community Consortium. Postdocs have been expanding rapidly in the computing fields.  Only by being introspective and proactive can we ensure that these positions contribute to the professional development of the student, rather than being exploitative.  The “best practices” white paper sets serious expectations for three constituencies relating to the postdoctoral experience: The Ph.D. student considering a postdoc position must educate himself or herself about what a postdoc is, think through the pros and cons of accepting a postdoctoral position at […]

In 1995, the Computer Science & Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council published the first “Tire Tracks Diagram” – illustrating the complex interplay among government, academia, and industry that has made America the world leader in information technology.  The diagram was included in the “Brooks-Sutherland” report examining the nation’s high performance computing and communications program. In 2003, CSTB updated the diagram in the report “Innovation in Information Technology.” A substantial revision has just been published in the new CSTB report “Continuing Innovation in Information Technology.”  The diagram illustrates the flow from fundamental research in fields such as digital communications, computer architecture, computer graphics, and AI into new multi-billion-dollar industry […]

In December 2010, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) conducted an extensive review of the Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program – the $4B coordinated multi-agency IT R&D program. PCAST has just released a 2012 follow-up to that review, conducted by Susan Graham, Peter Lee, and David Shaw.  The goals were to assess the responses to the 2010 recommendations, propose additional recommendations, and identify emerging research challenges.  Key findings: Research areas from the 2010 report where Federal agencies have made significant progress in sponsoring R&D: Big Data NIT interaction with the physical world Health IT Cybersecurity (although much remains to be done) […]

Scientists have seen significant progress in developing software that can perform human activities like seeing, listening and thinking. A New York Times article recently highlighted advances in this type of cutting edge technology, called “deep learning.” Deep learning uses artificial intelligence to create things like speech recognition technology, and machines that can drive cars and work in factories. It is available today in programs like Apple’s Siri virtual personal assistant, which uses voice recognition software and Google’s Street View, which uses machine vision to identify specific addresses. But what is new in recent months is the growing speed and accuracy of deep-learning programs, often called artificial neural networks or just […]