Evolving Academia/Industry Relations in Computing Research: Interim Report Released by the CCC

The Computing Community Consortium’s (CCC) Industry Working Group has released their Evolving Academia/Industry Relations in Computing Research: Interim Report.

In 2015, the CCC sponsored an industry round table that produced the report “The Future of Computing Research: Industry-Academic Collaborations”. Since then, several important trends in computing research have emerged such as the dramatic increase in undergraduate computer science enrollment, the increased availability of information technology, and the rising level of interactions between professors and companies, which has led to the sharing of critical industry resources (such as cloud computing and data).

This report considers how these trends impact the interaction between academia and industry in computing fields.

The interim report highlights the following conclusions:

• In certain computing disciplines, such as artificial intelligence, there are significant increases in the level of interaction between professors and companies, which take the form of extended joint appointments.
• Increasingly, companies are highly motivated to engage both professors and graduate students working in specific technical areas because companies view computing research and technical talent as a core aspect of their business success.
• This increasing connection between faculty, students, and companies has the potential to change (either positively or negatively) numerous things, including:
  • The academic culture in computing research universities
  • The research topics that faculty and students pursue
  • The ability of universities to train undergraduate and graduate students
  • How companies and universities cooperate, share, and interact

The interim report outlines areas of further investigation to help direct the computing research community to achieve the maximum benefits from these changes and minimize the negative outcomes.

As this is an interim report, we seek input from all the constituencies that can influence and are affected by these changes including industry, universities, and government agencies and in the roles of students, professors, industry representatives, and administrators. Please submit your comments here. We appreciate input from across the community as it will inform and strengthen the conclusions of the final report.