What attracts the best and brightest minds of a new generation? What are the next big computing ideas, the ones that will define the future of computing, galvanize the very best students, and catalyze research investment and public support?
The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) seeks to mobilize the computing research community to answer these questions by identifying major research opportunities for the field.
Click on the tabs below to see some of these activities.
Interactive Technologies
A revolution in the foundation of interaction is required!
- Interactive computing technology is based primarily on the architectures created for the XEROX Star and the Macintosh. Computing has changed since then and the expectations of people have changed radically yet, with the exception of the Web little has changed in the underlying theory and systems that support interactivity.
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Challenge to the Community:
Is there a science for understanding the complexity of our networks such that we can engineer them to have predictable behavior?
Maybe our networks are really different from anything anyone has ever seen (in nature) or built (by human) before
Implication: A BRAND NEW THEORY is needed!
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Cyber-Physical Systems
The integration of physical systems and processes with networked computing
Computations and Communication deeply embedded in and interacting with physical processes to add new capabilities to physical systems. Applications range from miniscule (pace makers) to large-scale (the national power-grid).
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Robotics
The present CCC study will generate a roadmap of applications for robotics across users, producers and researchers. The objective is to provide a comprehensive view of the use of robotics, main obstacles to deployment and identification of key competencies to facilitate the transformation. Some of these key competencies are not available today due to fundamental problems in design of systems. The process will identify such basic problems that will have to be addressed in order to ensure continued progress. Both market drivers and technology push will be considered as mechanisms for design of new systems.
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Big-Data Computing Study Group
Under sponsorship by the CCC, the Big-Data Study Group will explore and enable opportunities for research and applications of high-performance, data-intensive computing systems, benefiting application areas ranging from astronomy to machine translation.
To begin this effort, two events were held in March, 2008.
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Visions for Theoretical Computer Science
Theoretical Computer Science (TCS) aims to understand the intrinsic capabilities and limitations of efficient computation.
This subfield of computer science has a record of producing unexpected discoveries of high impact, such as public-key cryptography and quantum computation; and of raising deep scientific questions, such as the P vs. NP question.
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Free/Open Source Software
Free/Open Source Software is radically transforming how software is being developed by different communities in diverse disciplines.
Many of the grand challenge topics for engineering research increasingly rely on the development and use of FOSS systems(e.g., the International Thermonuclear Energy Research (ITER) project for fusion research).
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Education Technology (Ed Tech)
Ed Tech will influence computing research funding strategies in the advancement of education through computational models, reasoning, experimentation and implementation of mobile and ubiquitous pedagogical software.
Immediate topics of interest include: partnerships, services and tools for learning based on improved understanding of human cognition; improved human-computer interaction for individual productivity...
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Cross Layer Reliability
System-level, Cross-layer Cooperation to Achieve Predictable Systems from Unpredictable Components.
RelXLayer will draw participants from the broader computer research community to nurture a vision for a multi-level approach to reliability, generating a clear picture of the challenges and opportunities offered in multi-level reliability approaches...
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Global Development
The last decade has seen a resurgence of interest in the application of information technologies to address problems in global development.
Information is an important factor in the delivery of many basic services - including finance, health care, governance, agriculture and access to markets...
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Advancing Computer Architecture Research (ACAR)
The community of computer architecture researchers has grown substantially in the past 10 years, while the research work in the area continues to search for new ideas to address more acute trends and restrictions. Discontinuity-inducing trends such as the ubiquity of multi-cores, the reduced reliability of semiconductors, and ever-present power constraints, are transforming the field again. In this environment, one asks:
- What will computing platforms look like in 15 years?
- How will they impact the socio-human condition?
- What are the major research challenges that must be overcome to create these platforms?
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Discovery and Innovation in Health IT
Exploring and defining fundamental research challenges and opportunities in healthcare IT.
- Identify a range of "model" proof-of-concept, integrative systems that might serve as motivating and unifying forces to drive fundamental research in healthcare IT and accelerate the transition of research outcomes into products and services;
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Visions for the Future:
Latest White Papers:
- Computer Science: Past, Present and Future
Ed Lazowska at University of Pennsylvania, April 2010 (10.2 MB PDF) - Information Technology Research Challenges for Healthcare - From Discovery to Delivery
Susan Graham, University of California, Berkeley, Deborah Estrin, University of California, Los Angeles, Eric Horvitz, Microsoft Research, Isaac Kohane, Harvard University, Elizabeth Mynatt, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Ida Sim, University of California, San Francisco - Fundamental Research in Engineering
Ed Lazowska, University of Washington and Peter Lee, Carnegie Mellon University - Information Technology R&D and U.S. Innovation
Peter Harsha, Computing Research Association, Ed Lazowska, University of Washington,
and Peter Lee, Carnegie Mellon University - Re-Envisioning DARPA
Peter Lee, Carnegie Mellon University and Randy H. Katz, UC Berkeley - More White Papers
Highlight of the Week
Sign Language by Cell Phone
MobileASL is a video compression project at the University of Washington with the goal of making wireless cell phone communication through sign language a reality in the U.S.
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From the CCC Blog:
CCC-CIDR Call for Papers
The CCC has partnered with the Conference on Innovative Data Systems Research (CIDR) to create a special "Outrageous Ideas and Vision" track at CIDR 2011. The emphasis of this track will be on long term challenges and opportunities for the database and data management communities that are outside of current mainstream research in the field. To encourage participation, the CCC is sponsoring travel awards to the top submissions. Click here to learn more and respond to the call.
CCC Publishes Roadmap for Education Technology
The CCC sponsored two workshops in early 2009 that considered the future of education and, in particular, the role of computing technology in education. These workshops, led by PI Beverly Woolf of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, prompted further discussion within the research community, and the recently published a community "Roadmap for Education Technology" that articulates seven grand challenges for the future of education, as well as specific long-term basic research directions. Importantly, this roadmap is largely consistent with the Department of Education's recently announced National Education Technology Plan -- but goes further by identifying specific research priorities that are likely to address the education grand challenges. ] more [
Health IT: The Importance of Collaborative Government Investment
The CCC has prepared a white paper Information Technology Research Challenges for Healthcare: From Discovery to Delivery, following on to the Discovery and Innovation in Health IT workshop it co-sponsored with various Federal agencies in October 2009.
More Information | YouTube Channel
From Data to Knowledge to Action: A Global Enabler for the 21st century
From highway speed sensors to gene sequencers to real-time intelligence streams, the availability of rich data sets today is unprecedented. Recent advances in machine learning and reasoning are transforming our ability to visualize and infer from these data important new knowledge that will guide action and policies in mission-critical situations, enabling us to make the best decisions. The CCC has commissioned a new series of white papers describing how "data analytics" is critical to address several of our nation's key priorities--from healthcare to transportation to energy and the environment. ] More [
Computing Research that Changed the World
This invitation only symposium, "Computing Research that Changed the World: Reflections and Perspectives," was organized by the
Computing Community Consortium in collaboration with Congressman Bart Gordon (D-TN), Congressman Ralph Hall (R-TX), Congressman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), Congressman Vern Ehlers (R-MI), Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). It was held in the Library of Congress on March 25, 2009.
The overall message of the symposium is that computing research has made game-changing advances in the last two decades, from which we can extract lessons for structuring future programs to sustain that track record.
More Information | YouTube Channel
Landmark Contributions by Students in Computer Science
Undergraduate and graduate students have made truly game-changing contributions for the entire field of computer science in the course of their studies. The CCC recently catalogued examples of these contributions. ] more | CCC Blog [
Peter Lee at University of Washington
Peter Lee on the future of DARPA, and the Transformational Convergence Technology Office. TCTO is re-establishing basic research programs in a broad range of rapidly emerging computing-enabled technology areas such as social media, synthetic biology, high-performance computing, and networking, as well as employing a diverse range of innovation strategies including broad community programs, competitions/challenges, and crowd sourcing.
Watch at YouTube
Buzz on the Blog
Computing Innovation Fellows Project
The CIFellows Project was funded by NSF in May 2009 to forestall the permanent loss of research talent likely to occur if new Ph.D.s are forced to seek employment outside of the field due to the current economic crisis. The Project supports the placement of new Ph.D.s for one to two years in colleges, universities, and other organizations that advance the field of computing and its positive impact on society. In fall 2009, the Project funded a diverse group of 60 CIFellows with Ph.D.s from 4 different universities at 49 different host institutions. Today, 12 of these CIFellows are "graduating" the Project with full-time positions in academia and industry; others are continuing to complete outstanding research and align themselves with permanent positions in coming months. ] more [
Special Feature
Computing Research Initiatives for the 21st Century
The pivotal role of information technology in the United States' continued leadership in an increasingly competitive world is well documented. Advances in information technology have led to significant improvements in product design, development and distribution for American industry, provided instant communications for people worldwide. IT to collaborate across the globe, simulate experiments, visualize large and complex datasets, and collect and manage massive massive amounts of data. What does the new government need to know about the value of computing research? What are some of the most promising and exciting research opportunities in the field? What computing capabilities are critical for the nation today and into the future?
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