About the CCC

Man clicking on "innovation"The mission of Computing Research Association’s Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is to enable the pursuit of innovative, high-impact computing research that aligns with pressing national and global challenges.

  • CCC is of, by, and for the computing research community: a responsive, respected, visionary organization that seeks diversity, equity, and inclusivity in all of its activities. 
  • CCC is a powerful convener that brings together thought leaders from industry, academia, and government to articulate and advance compelling research visions.
  • CCC is an effective communicator with stakeholders, policymakers, the public, and the broad computing research community regarding the substance, and the importance, of those visions.

Learn more about the CCC’s strategic themes, goals, and strategies on the Governing Documents webpage.

History

In March 2006, NSF issued a solicitation indicating its desire to establish a Computing Community Consortium. In October of that year, CRA responded to the solicitation, submitting 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. Pursuant to positive external peer review, the CCC was established in late 2006 through a cooperative agreement between NSF and CRA.

An interim CCC Council was appointed by the proposal team in December 2006. Following an open recruitment process, Ed Lazowska (University of Washington) was selected as Chair of the CCC Council in March 2007. The membership of the inaugural CCC Council was selected through a transparent process and announced in June 2007. The first public activity of the CCC was a set of five plenary talks at the Federated Computing Research Conference (FCRC 2007) that month.

Early on, CCC Council member Susan Graham (University of California, Berkeley) assumed the role of Vice Chair. Andrew Bernat, CRA’s Executive Director, served the CCC in the role of staff Director until Erwin Gianchandani was recruited as full-time staff Director in April 2010. Ann Schwartz Drobnis took over as Director in March 2013. Mary Lou Maher took over the Director role in February of 2024.

Today, the CCC Council has 22 members on 3-year staggered terms, representing the diverse nature of the computing research field, plus two officers (Bliss, Siek).

Current Structure

The CCC operates as a programmatic committee of CRA under CRA’s bylaws: its membership only slightly overlaps the CRA’s Board of Directors; it has significant autonomy; and it has a great deal of synergistic mutual benefit with CRA. The CCC Council meets three times every calendar year, including at least one meeting in Washington, D.C., and has monthly conference calls between these meetings. Also, the CCC leadership has monthly conference calls with the leadership of NSF’s Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE).

The CCC is broadly inclusive, and any computing researcher who wishes to become involved is encouraged to do so. For example, each winter, the CCC issues a call for nominations for Council members effective the following July.

The CCC is governed by a 22-member Council.

Nadya Bliss (Arizona State University) serves as Chair
Katie Siek (Indiana University) serves as Vice Chair
Mary Lou Maher serves as CCC Director

The CCC is housed at CRA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., USA.