CONTENTS
[1] Newsletter Highlights
[2] Computing Groups Call for More Focus on Computing Education
[3] 2008 ACM Turing Award Recognizes Dr. Barbara Liskov
[4] USACM Seeks Details On Recovery.Gov To Maximize Public Information
[5] Final 2009 Budget Provide Increases for Science Agencies
[6] Internet Privacy Bill on Drawing Board for this Congress
[7] Secretary of Homeland Security Puts REAL ID on Back Burner
[8] About USACM
[An archive of all previous editions of Washington Update is available at
http://www.acm.org/usacm/update/]
[1] NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS
There are more details on each item below, as well as on our weblog at http://www.acm.org/usacm/weblog:
* ACM, the Computing Research Association, and the National Center for Women and Information Technology joined together to recommend improvements to the National IT Research and Development program to address computer science education issues at the K-12 level.
* ACM named Dr. Barbara Liskov, the first female U.S. Ph.D in Computer Science, the winner of the 2008 A.M. Turning Award.
* Congress finally passed a budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2009, with the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Department of Energy Office of Science receiving increases to keep the agencies on pace to double their research budgets.
* Rep. Rick Boucher, the new chair of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, is exploring the possibility of an Internet privacy bill for this Congress.
* REAL ID, a program that would supposedly improve the security and reliability of drivers’ licenses, has been put on hold by the Department of Homeland Security.
[2] ACM, CRA AND NCWIT PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NITRD
ACM has partnered with the Computing Research Association (CRA) and the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) to provide insight on improving the NITRD program. The National Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program coordinates investments in IT R&D across numerous federal agencies. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) provided recommendations for improving the NITRD program in 2007. Of these recommendations, they noted the need to improve computing education and strengthen the IT workforce pipeline. ACM, CRA and NCWIT all agree on the importance of those needs, which was the focus of the recommendations.
The recommendations to Congress focus on improvements by addressing computer science education issues at the K-12 level. Currently the NITRD program focuses mostly on R&D, and has a small education component that the National Science Foundation is primarily responsible for. This education component lacks a K-12 focus. The letter to Congress seeks to strengthen the workforce pipeline by expanding, better leveraging, and coordinating existing education efforts with in the NITRD program. Four recommendations will provide more federal emphasis on issues in computer science education:
* Promote computing education, particularly at the K-12 level, and increased exposure to computing education and research opportunities for women and minorities as core elements of the NITRD program;
* Require the NITRD program to address education and diversity programs in its strategic planning and road-mapping process;
* Expand efforts at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to focus on computer science education, particularly at the K-12 level through broadening the Math Science Partnership program; and,
* Enlist the Department of Education and its resources and reach in addressing computer science education issues.
Bringing more light to the education component of the NITRD program would be a great help in addressing computing education issues, most specifically at the K-12 level.
The joint letter can be read at:
http://www.acm.org/public-policy/NITRD_Final_Comment.pdf
The PCAST report and recommendations can be read at:
http://www.ostp.gov/pdf/nitrd_review.pdf
[3] ACM TURNING AWARD RECOGNIZES DR. BARBARA LISKOV
ACM awarded Barbara Liskov of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with the 2008 ACM A.M. Turning Award. The Turning Award, often considered the “Nobel Prize in Computing", was named after the British mathematician Alan M. Turning. The $250,000 prize is financially supported by Intel Corporations and Google Inc.
The award commemorates Kiskov’s foundational innovations to designing and building the pervasive computer system designs that are vital to every modern day computer application. Her accomplishments have influenced programming languages since 1975, making software more reliable, accessible, secure, and easier to maintain. Some of the languages she influenced include Ada, C++, Java, and C#. Many praise her for her achievements, “Her elegant solutions have enriched the research community, but they have also had a practical effect as well,” said Dame Wendy Hall, President of ACM.
Liskov’s greatest influence in the field of computing is with the use of data abstraction. She is a leader in showing its usefulness in making software easier to construct, modify, and maintain. Liskov also designed the CLU programming language (an object-oriented language), followed later by ARGUS (a distributed language).
Liskov was the first female Ph.D. in computer science, graduating from Stanford University in 1968. She received her BA in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently she heads the Programming Methodology Group in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. In 2008 she was named an Institute Professor, the highest honor available to an MIT faculty member. Liskov is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of ACM and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has been a member of numerous boards and committees. She is an author of numerous publications. Liskov has also received many other awards/recognition for her contributions to computer science.
For further reading about Dr. Liskov’s achievements, background, and the Turning award see:
http://www.acm.org/press-room/news-releases/turing-award-08
[4] USACM SEEKS DETAILS ON RECOVERY.GOV TO MAXIMIZE PUBLIC INFORMATION
Recovery.gov, mandated by Congress as a way to track federal spending, is still in its infancy, but it is unclear whether the website will allow users to download complete copies of machine readable data published on the site as USACM recommended. The following is from the site’s FAQ section (http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/frequently-asked-questions):
Q: Is the spending data on recovery.gov available in a format (like XML) that developers can use to create mashups and gadgets?
A: Not at this time. But, as new systems are developed to capture the allocations and expenditures under the Act, we plan to make that data available in exportable form. (Back to Top)
This is an important nod toward transparency, but the answer doesn’t give useful details such as timelines and whether complete data sets will be available. As part of our effort to encourage more usable and accessible government information online, we have issued principles for publicly available data. They are available at:
http://www.acm.org/public-policy/open-government
To help clarify these issues for Recovery.gov USACM recently sent two letters (one to the Administration and one to Congress) with some follow-up questions:
1. What is the timeline for developing the systems that will capture the data required by the act?
2. How long after these systems are deployed will the data be made available in machine-readable form?
3. Will users be able to download all the data made available on this site, or will only part of it be available for download?
4. What are the data elements that will be made available through Recovery.gov either through an Application Programming Interface or other mechanism?
We will post any responses received to our weblog. You can see our letters at:
http://usacm.acm.org/usacm/PDF/recovery_gov_administration_final.pdf (letter to the Administration)
http://usacm.acm.org/usacm/PDF/recovery_gov_follow_up_final.pdf (letter to Congress)
[5] FINAL FY 2009 BUDGET SHOWS INCREASE FOR ALL SCIENCE AGENCIES
With fiscal year 2009 nearly half finished, Congress has finally passed a budget to fund the government through the end of this fiscal year - September 30. Up to this point the government had been operating under a continuing resolution, which kept most agencies at their fiscal year 2008 levels. All science agencies showed an increase in this budget over FY 2008. Funding for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology will continue on a pace to double over ten years, as promised under the COMPETES Act. Excluding the stimulus funds, the three agencies will receive increases of $4.8 billion (NSF), $4.3 billion (DOE Office of Science), and $561 million (NIST).
[6] INTERNET PRIVACY BILL ON DRAWING BOARD FOR THIS CONGRESS
Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA) is the new Chair of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. While telecommunications issues will be a big concern for Rep. Boucher, he is thinking about Internet privacy. In an interview with the New York Times, Boucher expressed concern over the issue, stating, “Internet users should be able to know what information is collected about them and have the opportunity to opt out.”
Rep. Boucher is working with subcommittee Republicans on a bill that could standardize opt-out capacity and data collection disclosure for web sites. Rep. Boucher is also interested in requiring websites to obtain permission from users for the website before using their information in certain practices - known as opt-in. In other words, if a website was to institute deep packet inspection or other data collection practices and sell that information, they must get the explicit permission of the users they collect information from.
While this is an encouraging development, the Energy and Commerce Committee has crafted privacy bills before that have languished in legislative limbo. With a new committee chair, Congressman Waxman, this might change. You can learn more about Rep. Boucher’s interests for the subcommittee at the full article, available at:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/a-call-to-legislate-internet-privacy/
[7] SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY PUTS REAL ID ON BACK BURNER
The new Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, indicated in late March that there were many flaws and problems with the REAL ID law, which is intended to provide for more secure forms of identification. USACM submitted comments back in 2007 outlining our concerns with the program, which would not be as secure or reliable as desired or needed. Several states expressed their objections to REAL ID through legislation, including the State of Arizona and its then-Governor, Janet Napolitano. So the new perspective on REAL ID is not completely unexpected.
Secretary Napolitano is part of a working group coordinated by the National Governors Association to examine possible legislative and/or regulatory changes to REAL ID. Given the privacy and security concerns, as well as the steep price tag states will face under the current program, the status quo with REAL ID seems unlikely. Some states are working on forms of an enhanced drivers license (Washington state has started issuing them) geared toward frequent border crossers, but it’s unclear whether they would be cheaper, more secure, or provide better privacy than REAL ID.
You can read the USACM comments on REAL ID at:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/PDF/USACM_REAL_ID_Comments_FINAL.pdf
[8] ABOUT USACM
USACM is the U.S. Public Policy Committee of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). With over 88,000 members, ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession’s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.
USACM acts as the focal point for ACM’s interaction with the U.S. Congress and government organizations. It seeks to educate and assist policy-makers on legislative and regulatory matters of concern to the computing community.
For more information about USACM and ACM, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/about.html
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