CRA Releases Three New Quadrennial Papers Addressing Computing Research Workforce, AI in Healthcare, and AI Workforce Readiness
By Matt Hazenbush, Director of Communications
As part of its 2024-2025 CRA Quadrennial Paper Series, the Computing Research Association (CRA) is pleased to announce the publishing of three additional papers that explore critical challenges at the intersection of computing research, workforce development, and national priorities. These new papers build on the first tranche of Quadrennial Papers released last month, which examined topics such as U.S. IT leadership, robotics workforce education, cybersecurity, post-quantum cryptography, computing for vulnerable populations, and post-Moore software performance.
These latest additions to the series address pressing issues in computing research workforce development, AI’s transformative role in healthcare, and the educational imperatives needed to prepare the workforce for AI-driven economic shifts.
New Papers in the 2024-2025 Quadrennial Paper Series
Empowering the Future Workforce: Prioritizing Education for the AI-Accelerated Job Market
Lisa Amini (IBM Research), Henry F. Korth (Lehigh University), Nita Patel (Otis), Evan Peck (University of Colorado Boulder), Ben Zorn (Microsoft)
As AI reshapes industries at an unprecedented pace, ensuring workforce adaptability is a national priority. This paper highlights the challenges in preparing workers for AI-driven economic shifts and outlines strategies for broadening AI literacy across disciplines. The authors propose coordinated efforts from government, industry, and academia to expand AI education funding, reskill workers, and establish a long-term framework for responsible AI use and human-AI collaboration.
Enabling the AI Revolution in Healthcare
Mona Singh (Princeton University), Katie Siek (Indiana University Bloomington), David Danks (Carnegie Mellon University), Rayid Ghani (Carnegie Mellon University), Haley Griffin (CRA), Brian LaMacchia (MPC Alliance), Daniel Lopresti (Lehigh University), Tammy Toscos (Parkview Health)
AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare, improving diagnostics, treatments, and medical access, but its progress is hindered by fragmented and siloed patient data. This paper advocates for federal initiatives to establish secure health data repositories that enable responsible data sharing and researcher access. The authors outline critical steps, including privacy-preserving infrastructure, incentives for electronic health record (EHR) data sharing, and support for AI-driven healthcare innovation.
Reversing the Computing Research Workforce Shortfall: Bolstering Domestic Student Pathways to PhDs
Susanne Hambrusch (Purdue University), Lori Pollock (University of Delaware), Mary Hall (University of Utah), Nancy M. Amato (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
The demand for computing expertise continues to rise, yet the number of domestic students pursuing PhDs in computing remains stagnant. This paper highlights the urgent need to strengthen domestic pathways to computing PhDs, particularly to sustain innovation and safeguard national security. The authors propose the National Computing Research Workforce Fellowship, a program designed to engage talented undergraduates early—before they are committed to industry—with research experiences, mentorship, and financial support for graduate studies.
Previously Released Quadrennial Papers
Last month, CRA launched the 2024-2025 Quadrennial Paper Series with six papers addressing major computing research challenges:
- Reclaiming the Future: American IT Leadership in an Era of Global Competition – Calls for increased funding, streamlined immigration policies, and research openness to maintain U.S. global leadership.
- Imperative for Educating the Next Generation Robotics Technology Workforce – Advocates for national training centers and K-12 robotics education to sustain U.S. competitiveness in automation.
- Lessons for Cybersecurity from the American Public Health System – Recommends adopting public health principles to improve national cybersecurity resilience.
- The Post-Quantum Cryptography Transition: Making Progress, But Still a Long Road Ahead – Urges investment and international coordination to secure critical infrastructure from quantum threats.
- Prioritizing Computing Research to Empower and Protect Vulnerable Populations – Examines ethical challenges and solutions for designing technology that serves at-risk communities.
- Setting a Course for Post-Moore Software Performance – Highlights the urgent need for software performance engineering (SPE) investment to optimize computing capabilities.
Exploring the Full Series
The 2024-2025 CRA Quadrennial Papers offer a roadmap for policymakers, researchers, and the public to engage with critical computing research issues shaping the future. These papers provide actionable recommendations on national and global priorities in computing research, guiding discussions on sustaining U.S. leadership in technology, strengthening research pathways, and addressing societal challenges.
For more information and to explore the full series, visit CRA’s Quadrennial Papers webpage.
