Erwin Gianchandani joined the Computing Community Consortium as our inaugural Director in April 2010. Much of the success that the CCC has achieved is directly due to Erwin’s efforts: he is – among a long list of extraordinary attributes – smart, thoughtful, strategic, well-organized, tireless, and a joy to work with and be around. When you are fortunate enough to hire a young person such as Erwin, you know that at some point he will move on to other opportunities. We’re sad to report that this day has come. Next week, Erwin will leave CCC to become Deputy Director of the Division of Computer and Network Systems in NSF’s CISE […]
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.
One-on-One With New FTC Chief Technologist Steven Bellovin
September 18th, 2012 / in policy, research horizons / by Erwin GianchandaniEarlier this month, Columbia University computer science professor Steven Bellovin was named the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) chief technologist, taking over for Princeton’s Ed Felten following the conclusion of his successful two-year term. In his first post on the Tech@FTC Blog, Bellovin wrote: I’m delighted to succeed Ed Felten as Chief Technologist of the Federal Trade Commission. He’s a hard act to follow! But what does the FTC do, and what is the role of a technologist? The FTC polices the online marketplace. While that often involves addressing complex issues, one essential requirement is that companies must keep the promises they make to consumers. If an organization’s privacy policy says that […]
“A Robot With a Reassuring Touch”
September 18th, 2012 / in research horizons, Research News / by Erwin GianchandaniThe New York Times’s John Markoff has penned another article on robotics today, this time featuring the efforts of Rodney Brooks and Rethink Robotics to engineer robots that work directly with humans in the workplace: If you grab the hand of a two-armed robot named Baxter, it will turn its head and a pair of cartoon eyes — displayed on a tablet-size computer-screen “face” — will peer at you with interest. The sensation that Baxter conveys is not creepy, but benign, perhaps even disarmingly friendly. And that is intentional. Baxter, the first product of Rethink Robotics, an ambitious start-up company in a revived manufacturing district here, is a significant bet that robots in the future […]
NIH Seeking Input on New mHealth Public-Private Partnership
September 18th, 2012 / in policy, research horizons, Research News, resources / by Erwin GianchandaniThe Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) announcing its intent to establish a new Mobile Health Public-Private Partnership (mHealth PPP) that would “facilitate research and evidence collection to enable the appropriate use of wireless devices to improve health in both the domestic and global environment” through collaboration among government, academic, non-profit, philanthropic, and private sector organizations. In particular, the RFI seeks to identify organizations that could serve as managing partner and/or participants for the mHealth PPP. According to the RFI (following the link):
“Improving Our Depth Perception in Augmented Reality”
September 17th, 2012 / in research horizons, Research News / by Erwin GianchandaniThe National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Science Nation has featured the work of Mississippi State University computer scientist J. Edward Swan II today, describing how his efforts to improve depth perception are critical to future military and medical applications of augmented reality: Sports fans have come to expect some of the extras they see on their TV screen, such as the yellow lines that appear on a football field highlighting where the ball needs to go for a first down. Similarly, NASCAR fans can find their favorite driver in the pack because of those superimposed car numbers on the screen. “Anyone who’s seen a football game has seen the virtual first-down line and it […]
From GPS and Virtual Globes to Spatial Computing-2020
September 17th, 2012 / in big science, CCC, research horizons, workshop reports / by Erwin GianchandaniThe following is a special contribution to this blog from the organizing committee of the Computing Community Consortium’s (CCC) visioning workshop on spatial computing — From GPS and Virtual Globes to Spatial Computing-2020 — held last Monday and Tuesday in Washington, DC. The committee summarizes some of the highlights of the workshop. Spatial computing (SC) is a set of ideas and technologies that will transform our lives by understanding the physical world, knowing and communicating our relation to places in that world, and navigating through those places. The transformational potential of spatial computing is already evident. From virtual maps to consumer GPS devices, our society has benefitted immensely from spatial technology. We’ve reached the point […]
