Computing Research Policy Blog


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Computerworld on Sputnik, DARPA and Computing


Computerworld has fantastic coverage of the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik launch (Oct. 4th, 1957) and why, in a sense, we can thank the Soviets for helping create the conditions that led the U.S. to become the technological superpower we’ve become. Computerworld’s Gary Anthes’ piece “Happy Birthday Sputnik! (Thanks for the Internet)” does a great […]

Starting Salaries for CS Grads Continue to Rise


CRA’s Jay Vegso has the details of the latest National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) survey on the job market for new graduates, which shows CS graduates among best paid among all majors for 2007. CS grads in 2007 earned an average salary offer of $53,051, a 4.5 percent increase over 2006. Check out […]

CS Profs and the DOD


Long-time readers of this blog, or anyone familiar with CRA’s policy efforts, will know that we’ve spent a lot of time raising concerns about policy shifts at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that have cut university participation rates in DARPA-funded computer science research. In congressional testimony and blog posts, we’ve pointed out that […]

PCAST Report on the Federal Networking and IT R&D Program Released


The long-awaited follow-up review of the NITRD program — the first since the 1999 PITAC report Investing in Our Future — has been released and is available from the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. It’s called Leadership Under Challenge: Information Technology R&D in a Competitive World (pdf). We’ve discussed in depth a […]

President’s Remarks on Research and Innovation


President Bush yesterday presented awards to the 2005 and 2006 National Medal of Science and Technology Recipients, and in his remarks reiterated his support for a strong federal role in support of fundamental research. There’s no guarantee, of course, that the President’s strong support now will help alleviate the coming appropriations meltdown (that could threaten […]

CISE Awards Distinguished Education Fellow Grants


NSF’s CISE Directorate awarded the first two Distinguished Education Fellow grants today to Dr. Owen Astrachan and Dr. Peter Denning. The awards are part of the CISE Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate Computing Education (CPATH) program that CISE began last year. New CISE Assistant Director Jeannette Wing said that CISE supports the revitalization of undergraduate education […]

CRA at CNSF Exhibit on Hill


CRA participated once again in the Coalition for National Science Funding’s annual Science Exposition on Capitol Hill last week and it was a great success. The event, a science fair for Congress and staff, had 35 booths manned by researchers representing universities and scientific societies featuring some of the important research funded by the National […]

Cyber Security Report Released


The National Research Council of the National Academies of Science released a new report on cyber security and research called “Toward a Safer and More Secure Cyberspace.” The report is available for free online at the National Academies Press. The report lists three broad categories that lack of cyber security falls into: First is the […]

Attracting Women to Computer Science


While we see articles about the decline of computer science majors, particularly women, almost daily, the latest issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education has an interesting piece (sub. req’d.) about what a couple of universities are doing to attract and retain women in computer science programs. Lucy Sanders of the National Center for Women […]