The Computing Community Consortium (CCC), like the rest of the world, continued to adapt and restructure our activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the unique issues this year brought, with the help of the computing research community, we were able to continue making an impact and provide support. Some highlights from the year are described below; please see our website for more details, as well as plans and opportunities for new activities in the coming new year. In spring of 2021, the Computing Research Association (CRA), with strong support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), announced a new Computing Innovation Fellows (CIFellows) cohort for 2021. As before, this program aids recent and […]

On Thursday, December 16th at 4:00 PM ET, the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CEST) will be hosting a lecture “Deconstructing China’s Vision for the Future of Warfare” as a part of their Security and Technology Seminar Series. The series aims to bring together leaders from public and private sectors for discussions on the impact artificial intelligence and emerging technologies have on the national and international security landscape.  The lecture will feature two speakers, Ryan Fedasiuk (a Research Analyst at CEST), and Lieutenant General (retired) John Shanahan (the Inaugural Director at the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center) and seek to address the need for U.S. policymakers […]

Written by Shar Steed, originally posted on the The CRA Bulletin. The University of Washington (UW) Allen School recently shared the story behind the creation of a new professorship honoring Ed Lazowska in recognition of his incredible impact on the computing research community. The Endowed Professorship in Computer Science & Engineering in Honor of Edward D. Lazowska was the brainchild of Peter Lee of Microsoft and Jeff Dean of Google, who teamed up with Lee’s Microsoft colleagues Harry Shum and Brad Smith to provide a $1M gift. From the UW announcement: “If you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.” That maxim once graced the top of Allen […]

The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) put out a Request for Information (RFI) on uses of biometric technologies in the public and private sector. Concerns are growing with the increasing number of applications and domains using biometric information to determine identification or inference of emotion, disposition, character, or intent. As a result, OSTP is requesting input from interested parties past deployments, proposals, pilots, or trials, and current use of biometric technologies for the aforementioned purposes. In this case, a “biometric technology” is broadly referred to as a system that uses biometric information for the purpose of recognition or inference. Community responses will be used to understand the current landscape of […]

Proposals for Phase I and Phase II of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering’s (CISE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program are due December 2nd, 2021. The NSF SBIR/STTR programs focus on transitioning scientific research with commercial potential or societal benefits out of the lab and onto the market. This program provides funding and entrepreneurial support at the earliest stages of technology and company development to strengthen the national economy, stimulate the creation of breakthrough technologies and products and provide resources to small businesses. One of the main differences between the SBIR and STTR programs is the STTR […]

Khari Douglas will be covering the 8th Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) on the CCC blog all week. Stay tuned and check out the HLF blog for more coverage of the event.  On the final day of the 2021 Heidelberg Laureate Forum a panel of laureates convened to discuss “Advances in Computer Science, Mathematics and Computing.” The panel included Vint Cerf (2004 Turing Award), Yoshua Bengio (2018 Turing Award), Alessio Figalli (2018 Fields Medal), Yann LeCun (2018 Turing Award), and Avi Wigderson (1994 Nevanlinna Prize and 2021 Abel Prize). The panel covered a lot of topics including the future of AI and advice for students pursuing their PhD’s. Among the highlights, Vint Cerf asked the panel if they are worried about AI and […]