Society – Page 21 – Communications of the ACM

BLOG@CACM Jan 24 2022

Superhero Secret Identities Aren’t Possible with Today’s Computing Technologies

In comic books, most superheroes have a secret identity, usually to protect their friends and family from retribution. However, today’s computer technology would make it impossible for a superhero to maintain their secret identity. We look at a wide range of surveillance and tracking technologies, which have major implications for privacy and civil rights today.

Jason Hong

BLOG@CACM Jan 17 2022

Anti-Racist Computing Education: No More Excuses

On this #MLKDay, a list of resources to help center racial equity and justice in CS classrooms and a reminder that the CS Education community must make good on individual and collective resolve to attend to racial justice in every classroom at every level of education.

Shuchi Grover

News Jan 4 2022

Delivering Smart Warehouses

Companies old and new, large and small, are working to establish themselves in the smart warehouse and distribution center market.

Jake Widman | Commissioned by CACM Staff

A concept image of future smart technology for industrial warehouse and automated logistic control .

BLOG@CACM Jan 3 2022

Software Stories: Legal Trouble

Legal troubles represent another collection of potential pitfalls where developers often find themselves unprepared.

Doug Meil

Opinion Jan 1 2022

Is the Global Computing Community Irrevocably Divided?

The powerful forces pulling the global computing community apart have broad implications on all seven continents, not just in the U.S. and China.

Andrew A. Chien

Opinion Jan 1 2022

Will AI Destroy Education?

Technology can lead to improved education, but only if we move slow and do not break things.

Moshe Y. Vardi

Careers Jan 1 2022

How Computing Empowered Me to Tackle Big Problems in Medicine

What have I learned that might be helpful in preparing aspiring computer scientists to lead impactful and meaningful professional lives?

Peter M. Small

News Jan 1 2022

Monetizing Your Personal Data

What is your private data worth, to you and to the companies willing to pay you for it?

Keith Kirkpatrick

hands swap cash for goods through tablet computer screens, illustration

News Jan 1 2022

Converting Laws to Programs

In highly regulated industries, it is critical that laws are translated precisely into code that reflects their intent.

Esther Shein

legal scales and information table, illustration

Research and Advances Jan 1 2022

How Reliable Is Smartphone-Based Electronic Contact Tracing for COVID-19?

A look through the lens of neighbor discovery protocols reveals significant potential to improve electronic contact-tracing accuracy.

Philipp H. Kindt, Trinad Chakraborty, and Samarjit Chakraborty

COVID symbols over commuters on subway platform, looking at their phones

Research and Advances Jan 1 2022

Delivering a Rapid Digital Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Lessons learned from South Korea's contact-tracing system.

Gwanhoo Lee and Jaeho Kim

masked couple and a young girl walk on a crowded street

BLOG@CACM Dec 21 2021

Finding a Path to CS for All: How Many U.S. High School Students Have Taken CS?

How do we measure progress towards CS for All?

Mark Guzdial

News Dec 21 2021

Confidential Computing Conquers Hacks

Protecting data while it is in use, rather than at rest or in flight.

R. Colin Johnson | Commissioned by CACM Staff

BLOG@CACM Dec 15 2021

Framing the Description of the Shrinking Pipeline

The shrinking pipeline refers to the low percentages of women earning computer science academic degrees and holding faculty positions.

Orit Hazzan and Heftzi Zohar

News Dec 14 2021

Quenching the Flames: AI, Data Help Fight Global Wildfires

New technologies are being deployed to predict, monitor, and fight wildfires as their frequency and ferocity grow.

Karen Emslie | Commissioned by CACM Staff

The JC260 firefighting helicopter drone.

News Dec 7 2021

Car Hackers Could Drive You Off the Road (or They Might Settle for Money)

Automotive cybersecurity is a cat-and-mouse game, with the good guys and bad guys constantly chasing each other.

Mark Halper | Commissioned by CACM Staff

An electric vehicle plugged into a charging station.

News Dec 2 2021

Data in the Wild Might be Key to Better Public Health

"Social determinants of health have really come to the forefront in terms of who has been most greatly impacted."

Gregory Goth

BLOG@CACM Dec 1 2021

Original Roman Pocket Calculators are Extremely Rare

As far as we know, only three or four original specimens of the Roman hand abacus have survived.

Herbert Bruderer

Opinion Dec 1 2021

Patent Absurdity

A case when ignorance is the best policy.

George V. Neville-Neil

patent label and binary code, illustration

Research and Advances Dec 1 2021

Digital Agriculture for Small-Scale Producers: Challenges and Opportunities

Smart Farming with technologies such as IoT, computer vision, and AI can improve agricultural efficiency, transparency, profitability, and equity for farmers in low-and middle-income countries.

Ranveer Chandra and Stewart Collis

Research and Advances Dec 1 2021

AI-CHD: An AI-Based Framework for Cost-Effective Surgical Telementoring of Congenital Heart Disease

3D heart modeling and AI bring new cardiac surgery to remote and less-developed regions.

open hand under human heart, illustration

Opinion Dec 1 2021

Communicating ACM Priorities

The need for diversity, equity, and inclusion is not only an issue of fairness, but also of excellence; research consistently finds that diverse teams produce better results than non-diverse teams.

Vicki L. Hanson

Opinion Dec 1 2021

Good, Better, Best: How Sustainable Should Computing Be?

The grid faces major challenges to decarbonize, and the computing community can and should help accelerate the process.

Andrew A. Chien

Opinion Dec 1 2021

Common Ails

Michael A. Cusumano's October 2021 column, "Section 230 and a Tragedy of the Commons," contains some fundamental factual errors that further muddle a debate that already has been rife with inaccuracies.

CACM Staff

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