Established six years ago through a Cooperative Agreement between CRA and the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) has sought to serve as a catalyst and enabler for the computing research community, providing mechanisms to encourage the community to identify compelling research visions for the future of the field, all the while attracting bright young talent and fostering development of the next generation of leaders. During this time, the CCC itself has evolved – from a startup-like organization into a much more stable, long-term enterprise that empowers the field broadly. This past spring, the CCC received a positive review from an independent peer review panel commissioned by NSF, and it is anticipated that a new Cooperative Agreement with support for another four years will be signed early this fall. So as we embark upon a new period, we would like to revisit our core activity – community-wide visioning exercises that bring together members of our community to coalesce around research visions – and describe ways in which you can get involved.

The Computing Community Consortium (CCC), which will enter its fifth year later this fall, remains focused on catalyzing and empowering the computing research community to pursue more audacious research, all the while attracting bright young talent and fostering development of the next generation of leaders.

Data from CRA’s annual Taulbee Survey document substantial growth in the cadre of U.S. and Canadian postdoctoral fellows over the past decade. Most recently, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) and National Science Foundation (NSF) have funded one- to two-year postdoctoral positions through the Computing Innovation Fellows Project, in hopes of retaining recent PhDs in computing research and teaching during difficult economic times. We believe it is time for the community to understand the significance of this PostDoc surge, assessing whether it is the right course of action for the field in the long term.