Computing Community Consortium Blog

The goal of the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is to catalyze the computing research community to debate longer range, more audacious research challenges; to build consensus around research visions; to evolve the most promising visions toward clearly defined initiatives; and to work with the funding organizations to move challenges and visions toward funding initiatives. The purpose of this blog is to provide a more immediate, online mechanism for dissemination of visioning concepts and community discussion/debate about them.


Heidelberg Laureates Warn Against a False Sense of Security with Current Encryption Methods

October 4th, 2023 / in Announcements, CCC / by Catherine Gill

During the 10th Heidelberg Laureate Forum last week, I had the opportunity to interview several of the laureates to hear their perspectives on current and future challenges in computing. Two of these laureates that I was fortunate enough to sit down with were Dr. Avi Wigderson and Dr. Yael Tauman Kalai (short bios are at the end of this blog).   With access to two leading experts in cryptography, I asked them both about the new era of cryptography we are entering, post-quantum cryptography (PQC).    RSA encryption, the most commonly used form of encryption today, was invented in 1977 by Ron Rivet, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman at MIT. […]

Former Council Member, Suresh Venkatasubramanian Featured in Article for His Role in Developing the White House’s Framework for AI

October 3rd, 2023 / in AI, CCC, workshop reports / by Maddy Hunter

Former CCC Council member, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, was recently featured in Fast Company article “How Suresh Venkatasubramanian helped write the White House’s framework for AI governance”. In 2021, Venkatasubramanian joined the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as its assistant director for science and justice to think through all the risks that automation poses and limits that should be imposed on the technology. As part of his job, Venkatasubramanian coauthored the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, a broad framework for protecting people’s rights in the world of AI. Released last October, the Blueprint has had tangible effects on White House actions. Earlier this year, one section of […]

AFOSR Hosting a Webinar on AI for Humanity

September 27th, 2023 / in Uncategorized / by Maddy Hunter

On October 31st, 2023 from 2-3:30 PM ET the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) is hosting a webinar AI for Humanity. Led by AFOSR program officer for the Science of Information, Computation, Learning, and Fusion, Doug Riecken the webinar will feature a lively discussion with A.I. leaders: Carla Gomes, Eric Horvitz, Kimberly Sablon, Steven “Cap” Rogers, Tom Mitchell, and Yann LeCun as they discuss AI for Humanity. Register here! Agenda INTRO SECTION 2:00-2:05 EDT Welcome from AFOSR Dr. William Roach, AFRL/AFOSR 2:05-2:08 EDT Outlining Goals Doug Riecken, AFRL/AFOSR THINKER/SPEAKER SECTION 2:08-3:15 ET   Remarks and Panel Discussion Each speaker will present their question(s) and a couple of comments […]

Kick-off to the 10th Heidelberg Laureate Forum

September 25th, 2023 / in conferences / by Catherine Gill

    Today marks the first official day of the 10th Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Heidelberg, Germany. The Computing Community Consortium has attended and covered the HLF conference every year since 2018, with the exception of last year, 2022. This year we are back in action, and will be covering the conference in-person in the idyllic town of Heidelberg.   To give some background, the Heidelberg Laureate Forum is an annual conference which brings together some of the greatest minds in mathematics and computer science, both those well established in their fields and those who are just beginning their careers. 200 young researchers are selected to attend and meet the […]

NIST to Standardize Encryption Algorithms That Can Resist Attack by Quantum Computers

September 19th, 2023 / in Uncategorized / by Maddy Hunter

Last year, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) set out to create four new algorithms capable of withstanding an attack by quantum computers. Last month, NIST released draft standards for three new algorithms, with a fourth planned to be released in about a year. CRYSTALS-Kyber, designed for general encryption purposes such as creating secure websites, is covered in FIPS 203. CRYSTALS-Dilithium, designed to protect the digital signatures we use when signing documents remotely, is covered in FIPS 204. SPHINCS+, also designed for digital signatures, is covered in FIPS 205. FALCON, also designed for digital signatures, is slated to receive its own draft FIPS in 2024. This has been the part of a multi-year […]

Final Reminder to Submit Challenge Problems Requiring AI/OR Collaboration

September 13th, 2023 / in AI, CCC / by Catherine Gill

This is a final reminder to please submit your Challenge Problems which require collaboration between the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Operations Research (OR) disciplines by this Friday, September 15th at 11:59 pm ET. You can submit your ideas using this form. Selected submitters will be invited to participate at the 3rd AI/OR workshop to help shape the discussion of potential collaboration between these communities and overcome hurdles preventing collaborations.   For more information, please read the full challenge problem solicitation on our blog.