Computing the future: whither computer science and engineering?

ABSTRACT

The Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council recently released a report entitled Computing the Future: A Broader Agenda for Computer Science and Engineering. The report is intended as a first step in developing a vision of computer science and engineering that will carry the discipline into the 21st Century. Acknowledging the fraying of the social compact that has supported scientific research since World War II, pressures on academic science, and major changes in the computer industry, the report puts forward a view that the intellectual boundaries of the CS&E discipline should expand. The discipline should continue to support what has been traditionally been considered “core” computer science and engineering, but it should also learn to embrace rather than eschew computing problems that arise in domains outside the traditional core. Such problem domains include other sciences and areas with commercial or economic, significance. This broader agenda will have many benefits for CS&E, including a rich set of intellectually challenging problems, greater social impact, and a wider variety of funding opportunities. Not surprisingly, this vision of the field in the 21st Century has generated considerable controversy and debate, as is appropriate for matters as important as these. A panel will briefly review the major judgments, priorities, and recommendations of the report, and differing perspectives on the report will be aired.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY

General Terms:
Human Factors