Contributions to this post were provided by the Computing Research Association’s Senior Policy Analyst Brian Mosley. Yesterday, President Biden announced 30 of America’s most distinguished leaders in science and technology as members of his President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). PCAST is the premier science advisory committee within the Executive Office of the President and is the sole body of advisors charged with making science, technology, and innovation policy recommendations to the President and the White House. Established by Executive Order, it is an independent Federal Advisory Committee composed of distinguished individuals from industry, academia, and non-profit organizations with a range of perspectives and scientific expertises.   The […]

The following blog was first posted on the CRA Bulletin.  After nearly 20 years at the helm of the Computing Research Association, Executive Director Andrew Bernat has retired from his position, marking the close of his incredible career that has spanned more than 40 years. Over the course of his career, he was founding member and chair of the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at El Paso, a NSF Program Director and finally executive director of CRA since 2002. Under his leadership the association has seen a dramatic, positive transformation, more than tripling in size and launching significant new efforts in research visioning, widening participation, and postgraduate […]

Last week, we announced the retirement of Computing Research Association Executive Director Andrew Bernat.  The description and advertisement for the Executive Director position, which we are hoping to fill this fall, can be found below. Please share.  The Computing Research Association (CRA)—the nation’s premier member organization of academic departments, laboratories, and industry centers aimed at advancing computing research to change the world—seeks an inclusive, transparent, and enterprising leader to serve as its next Executive Director (ED). CRA counts among its members more than 200 North American organizations active in computing research: academic departments of computer science and computer engineering; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia; and affiliated professional […]

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is sad to announce the retirement of CRA Executive Director Andrew Bernat. Bernat was instrumental in the development of the CCC — in October 2006, CRA responded to an NSF solicitation to establish a Computing Community Consortium. Bernat, working along with Daniel A Reed, Susan L Graham, Anita K Jones, and Edward D Lazowska submitted a proposal that was backed by explicit letters of support from 132 Ph.D.-granting academic programs, 16 leading corporations, 7 major national laboratories and research centers, and five professional societies in the field.  Since then, with Bernat working as an Ex-Officio member of the CCC’s Executive Committee, the CCC has grown into […]

Yesterday, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Initiative Office launched the new AI.gov website.  This website is the home of the National AI Initiative Act of 2020 and as stated in the press release “the connection point to ongoing activities to advance U.S. leadership in AI from policy documents and strategies, to applications of AI, to the latest news and updates from the agencies and federal advisory boards helping shape the activities of the National AI Initiative.”  National AI Initiative Act of 2020 became law on January 1, 2021, providing for a coordinated program across the entire Federal government to accelerate AI research […]

The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a congressionally-chartered committee charged with reviewing AI and related technologies and making recommendations to address U.S. national security and defense needs, today released its final report, endorsing significant new investments in AI research, strategies for building the AI workforce, and guidance for using AI in warfare while upholding U.S. democratic values. The report is likely to inform policy activity around defense-related AI issues in Congress and at the Department of Defense over the next months and years. Computing Research Association (CRA) Government Affairs Director, Peter Harsha and Nadya T. Bliss, Executive Director of ASU’s Global Security Institute and Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Executive […]