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 […]

Today, July 1st, is the start of a new term at CCC! The new Computing Community Consortium (CCC) leadership, Elizabeth Mynatt and Mark Hill will assume their roles as Chair and Vice Chair respectively for two-years, while Greg Hager is stepping down after two years as Chair. The other members of the CCC Executive Committee include Jennifer Rexford, Princeton University, and Ben Zorn, Microsoft Research. In addition to a new Exec Committee, four new CCC Council members will us join us for the start of their three-year terms, Sampath Kannan, University of Pennsylvania, Maja Matarić, University of Southern California, Nina Mishra, Amazon Research, and Holly Rushmeier, Yale University. The CCC and CRA thank Greg Hager and those Council members […]

The following is a guest blog by Greg Hager, Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Chair and Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University.  Computing has become a powerful tool for productivity and connectivity — it powers companies, it fuels scientific research, and it delivers entertainment and social engagement for billions. Could research-based innovations in computing also become a catalyst for addressing compelling societal problems? To explore this question, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) organized a two-day Symposium on Computing Research: Addressing National Priorities and Societal Needs. This meeting brought together over 130 in-person participants and over 1000 online viewers to raise the visibility of work that connects […]

Today we are happy to announce the new CCC leadership. Elizabeth Mynatt and Mark Hill will assume their roles as Chair and Vice Chair respectively for two-year terms beginning July 1, while Greg Hager is stepping down after two years as Chair. Elizabeth D. Mynatt, Professor of Interactive Computing and the Executive Director of Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology, will assume the role of Chair of the CCC. Mynatt has served on the CCC since its formation and has spearheaded activities forging research collaborations in healthcare and health information technologies. Recently, Mynatt was one of the lead organizers for the CCC and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute […]

Over the past 10 years, the Computing Community Consortium has hosted dozens of research visioning workshops to imagine, discuss, and debate the future of computing and its role in addressing societal needs. The Computing Research: Addressing National Priorities and Societal Needs Symposium will draw these topics into a program designed to illuminate current and future trends in computing and the potential for computing to address national challenges. The two days are organized around four main themes: The Impact of Computing in Our Physical World: New advances in robotics and the internet-of-things promise to reshape how people move and act in the world. This session will explore the implications of computing-powered advances for […]

Contributions to this post were made by Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council Member Kevin Fu, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan. Kevin also co-founded Virta Labs, a healthcare cybersecurity company. A growing number of medical devices are designed to be networked to facilitate patient care. However, as we have seen, networked medical devices and hospital records incorporate software that make them vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. Proactively addressing cybersecurity risks in hospitals reduces the patient safety impact and the overall risk to public health. On January 22, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a draft document to inform industry and FDA staff on recommendations for managing postmarket cybersecurity vulnerabilities for marketed medical devices. This document clarifies […]