DEPARTMENT:
Cerf's up
In Debt to the NSF
In 1980, the National Science Foundation sponsored the development of CSNET to connect a number of computer science departments together that had not already been connected to the ARPANET. NSF continues its vigorous support for …
Vinton G. Cerf
Page 5
DEPARTMENT:
BLOG@CACM
Pondering Variables and Direct Instruction
Robin K. Hill considers the nature of variables, while Mark Guzdial reflects on renewed interest in the "direct instruction model."
Robin K. Hill, Mark Guzdial
Page 6
COLUMN:
News
Soft Robots Look to New Environments
These non-standard automatons appear best suited for applications under water and in space.
Chris Edwards
Page 9
The Future of Data Storage
Research into next-generation storage techniques marches forward, yet tape remains the most viable, dependable medium.
Samuel Greengard
Page 12
The Fine Line Between Coercion and Care
Employers monitoring their workforce must balance productivity and security considerations with employee privacy and welfare concerns.
Sarah Underwood
Page 15
COLUMN:
Technology strategy and management
Free Trade in a Digital World
Considering the possible implications for free trade, traditionally based on non-digital goods, for a modern global economy that is increasingly based on intangible products and services enabled by digital technologies.
Mari Sako
Page 18
COLUMN:
Kode Vicious
Know Your Algorithms
Stop using hardware to solve software problems.
George V. Neville-Neil
Page 22
COLUMN:
Viewpoint
The Web Is Missing an Essential Part of Infrastructure: An Open Web Index
A proposal for building an index of the Web that separates the infrastructure part of the search engine—the index—from the services part that will form the basis for myriad search engines and other services utilizing Web data …
Dirk Lewandowski
Page 24
SECTION:
Europe region
Welcome to the Europe Region Special Section
Europe provides a unique environment for the development of a distinctive computing landscape. You will see this reflected in the Europe Region Special Section.
Panagiota Fatourou, Chris Hankin
Page 28
SECTION:
Europe Region Special Section: Hot topics
A Demographic Snapshot of the IT Workforce in Europe
The number of ICT specialists in the EU workforce has grown over 36% in the last 10 years. This increase helps explain why ICT employment has resisted the effects of the region's overall financial crisis.
Lisa Korrigane
Page 32
Enterprises Lead ICT Innovation in Europe
Europe's tech ecosystem is renewing itself: $3.5 billion was invested in so-called deep tech companies in 2017 across more than 600 deals, up from $2.5 billion in 2016.
David Pringle
Page 34
Europe's Ambitious ICT Agenda
With an aging population and a shrinking workforce, Europe needs to tap artificial intelligence, 5G wireless connectivity, quantum computing, and other ICT technologies that could drive the next step change in productivity.
David Pringle
Page 35
Europe's Well-Connected Consumers
Europeans have mixed feelings about the direction in which ICT is headed.
David Pringle
Page 36
New European Data Privacy and Cyber Security Laws: One Year Later
Two landmark pieces of legislation taking effect in Europe this year represent a major shift in the European industry's approach to privacy and security compliance.
Laurence Kalman
Page 38
Incorporating Europe's Values in Future Research
Increasing digitalization and automation, growing globalization, and improved financial durability offer many excellent opportunities for development.
Jan Gulliksen
Page 40
HiPEAC: A European Network Built to Last
High Performance and Embedded Architecture and Compilation (HiPEAC) has grown from 70 to 2,000 computing specialists in the last 15 years, including 200 from industry, making it the largest such network in the world.
Koen De Bosschere, Marc Duranton, Madeleine Gray
Page 42
ACM Europe Council's Best Paper Awards
The ACM Europe Council's Best Paper Awards recognize authors of outstanding technical contributions to ACM-sponsored conferences held in Europe.
Joaquim Jorge, Mashhuda Glencross, Aaron Quigley
Page 44
SECTION:
Europe Region Special Section: Big trends
Connected Things Connecting Europe
Modern embedded system microcontroller and transceiver technology advancements have brought forth the kinds of systems we have defined for some time in Europe as "embedded intelligence."
Julie A. McCann, Gian Pietro Picco, Alex Gluhak, Karl Henrik Johansson, Martin Törngren, Laila Gide
Page 46
Women Are Needed in STEM: European Policies and Incentives
In Europe, gender balance in research and innovation is understood as a social justice and equality issue.
Panagiota Fatourou, Yota Papageorgiou, Vasiliki Petousi
Page 52
Informatics as a Fundamental Discipline for the 21st Century
Informatics should be recognized by all as a truly foundational discipline that plays a significant role in education for the 21st century.
Michael E. Caspersen, Judith Gal-Ezer, Andrew McGettrick, Enrico Nardelli
Page 58
The European Perspective on Responsible Computing
Europe is at the forefront of the regulation and reflections on digital systems through its institutional bodies.
Paola Inverardi
Page 64
Toward a European Exascale Ecosystem: The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking
European supercomputing infrastructures represent a strategic resource for understanding and responding to the increasing challenges European citizens will face in the years to come.
Thomas Skordas
Page 70
Web Science in Europe: Beyond Boundaries
There is increasing concern in Europe—and beyond—that the Web has become a vehicle of disintegration, polarization, and exploitation. Web Science seeks to investigate, analyze, and intervene in the Web from a sociotechnical perspective …
Steffen Staab, Susan Halford, Wendy Hall
Page 74
SECTION:
Practice
Identity by Any Other Name
The complex cacophony of intertwined systems.
Pat Helland
Page 80
Metrics That Matter
Critical but oft-neglected service metrics that every SRE and product owner should care about.
Benjamin Treynor Sloss, Shylaja Nukala, Vivek Rau
Page 88
Research for Practice: Edge Computing
Scaling resources within multiple administrative domains.
Nitesh Mor
Page 95
SECTION:
Contributed articles
Analytics for Managerial Work
Work in finance, marketing, human resources, and operations increasingly relies on analytics—with more to come.
Vijay Khatri, Binny M. Samuel
Page 100
SECTION:
Review articles
Neural Algorithms and Computing Beyond Moore's Law
Advances in neurotechnologies are reigniting opportunities to bring neural computation insights into broader computing applications.
James B. Aimone
Page 110
Cyber Security in the Quantum Era
Quantum systems will significantly affect the field of cyber security research.
Petros Wallden, Elham Kashefi
Page 120
SECTION:
Research highlights
Technical Perspective: Was Edgar Allan Poe Wrong After All?
Umesh Vazirani and Thomas Vidick's "Fully Device Independent Quantum Key Distribution" provides an unexpectedly simple and elegant secure protocol solution, indeed one that is almost within reach of current technology.
Gilles Brassard
Page 132
Fully Device Independent Quantum Key Distribution
We rigorously provide the device-independent security of an entanglement-based protocol building on Ekert's original proposal for quantum key distribution.
Umesh Vazirani, Thomas Vidick
Page 133
COLUMN:
Last byte
Fighting for Lava
There are vast underground lava fields in the western U.S. Imagine a pair of tunnelboring energy-extraction companies are competing to cool the lava, make some money, and provide carbon-free energy besides.
Dennis Shasha
Page 144