Reed's Ruminations: The Past, Present, and Future
Reflections on science, technology, and computing — leavened by personal experience
Tag: CRA
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Planting Seeds in the Field of Knowledge
In these challenging economic times, U.S. universities are under great stress – economically, politically and socially. It is tempting for those of us in computing to ignore these issues. Like agriculture and engineering before us, I believe computing has a social responsibility to be an active and enthusiastic partner in helping chart the nature of…
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Impact, Not Indicators or Artifacts
N.B. I also write for the Communications of the ACM (CACM). The following essay recently appeared on the CACM blog. Publish and/or perish; proposals and reports; research, teaching and service: these are the “death and taxes” equivalents for life in major research universities. Success — or at least promotion and tenure – is normally measured…
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Stimulus Thoughts Redux
The CRA Computing Research Policy Blog summarizes the results of the conference committee reconciliation, including funding for basic research.
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Publication Quarks
Over the past thirty years, I have accumulated the common artifact of an academic research career – bookshelves overflowing with research journals and conference proceedings. Each time I pull an old and yellowing volume from my shelves, it is simultaneously nostalgic and thought provoking to read a few randomly selected articles. Not only does this…
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Innovation: The Fierce Urgency of Now
Today, we face economic challenges that are unprecedented in the memory of most of the living. The proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (aka the economic stimulus package) emphasizes investment in infrastructure construction, reminiscent of the CCC and WPA, health care, education, efficient energy and one of the key foundations of our…
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Where There Is No Vision, the People Perish
I have often reflected on the critical ingredient to discovery and innovation. Is it knowledge? Without doubt, for each discovery builds on the vast and interconnected web of previous discoveries. Is it talent? Certainly, as anyone who has ever taught a class knows and understands. Is it persistence? Absolutely, for Edison was right; discovery is…