Learned Societies in an International Context

Eric RobertsStanford University

co-chair, ACM Education Board

CPHC “Grand Challenges” ConferenceGlasgow, Scotland

March 24, 2006

A Perspective from the United States

A Stanford-UK Story

Once upon a time, the Financial Times ran a story comparing Silicon Valley and Silicon Fen:

A Stanford-UK Story

A year later, we got a visit from a delegation of MPs:

Barry Sheerman: Huddersfield, Labour [Chairman]Charlotte Atkins: Staffordshire Moorlands, LabourValerie Davey: Bristol West, LabourMichael Foster: Worcester, LabourHelen Jones: Warrington North, LabourGordon Marsden: Blackpool South, LabourDr Evan Harris: Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal DemocratStephen O’Brien: Eddisbury, ConservativeNick St Aubyn: Guildford, Conservative

What is a Learned Society?

The term learned society conjures up visions of the Royal Society, which has several potential analogues across the pond:

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

The National Academies– National Academy of Science– National Academy of Engineering– National Institute of Medicine

Our work in computing research and education is influenced more strongly by professional societies and professional associations.

Professional Societies in Computing

As all of you who have been involved in IFIP know, the U.S. has two computing societies:

The Association of Computing MachineryThe IEEE Computer Society

The two societies operate independently, but collaborate in several important areas, such as the development of computing curricula.

CC200x Series

Computing Curricula 2001

Computer Science

The Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula

Association for Computing MachineryIEEE Computer Society

Computing Curricula 2005

Software Engineering

The Joint Task Force onSoftware Engineering Education

Project(SWEEP)

Computing Curricula 2005

Computer Engineering

The Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula

IEEE Computer SocietyAssociation for Computing Machinery

Computing Curricula 2006

Information Technology

Association for Computing Machinery

Computing Curricula 2006

The Overview Volume

The Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula

Association for Computing MachineryIEEE Computer Society

Computing Curricula 2002

Information Systems

Association for Computing MachineryAssociation for Information Systems

Professional Associations

The ACM and IEEE-CS are organized around individual memberships. Most top research institutions (academic and industrial) also take part in a research consortium:

Computing Research Association (CRA)

The CRA is responsible for:– The Taulbee survey of research universities– The biannual Snowbird conferences– A large number of useful reports

Challenges Facing Computing in the U.S.• Federal funding for research has declined. At the same

time, fewer companies can support academic research or maintain their own research labs.

• The Bush administration’s aversion to taxes and the staggering U.S. debt make funding increases unlikely.

• Science is under attack in the current political climate, along with the mission of universities more generally.

• Student interest in computing degrees has declined precipitously in recent years.

• The 9/11 attacks—and the subsequent appeal to fear used to bolster support for the Iraq war—have made it harder for the United States to attract talented students.

Erosion of Research Funding

• Corporate support for research has declined since the collapse of the dot-com bubble. Although there are growing opportunities at wealthy companies like Microsoft and Google, there are fewer companies supporting university research.

• Despite calls for increased funding for science in the most recent “State of the Union” address, actual increases in the NSF budget are small. Funding for science education has in fact declined.

• Under Tony Tether, DARPA research funding has become far more mission-directed.

The New DARPA Funding Model

• For many years, DARPA invested a great deal of money in research projects to create autonomous vehicles.

• In the last two years, DARPA put $2M into a prize instead.

The Crisis in Computing Education

The Crisis in Computing Education

Source: Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 2005

• The CRA finds that computing enrollments have fallen between 40 and 50% since 2000.

• At UCLA, the number of students listing CS as a possible major has declined significantly in recent years, particularly for women.

Possible Reasons for Declining Enrollments• No understanding of opportunities in computing

• Negative image of work in computing fields

• Static curricula that fail to attract today’s students

• Growing complexity of introductory courses

• Concerns about job security in the wake of offshoring

• Belief that all jobs vanished with the dot-com collapse

• Students pursuing wealth over good salaries

• Failure to believe statistics showing good opportunities

The “No Jobs” Fear is Widespread

Contrary to popular belief, career opportunities in computer science are at an all-time high. We’ve got to spread that message among students from a rainbow of backgrounds, or risk becoming a technological backwater.

Blue Skies Ahead for IT Jobs

BY MARIA KLAWE

December 1, 2005All this talk about “Blue Skies” ahead just can’t hide the stark fact that Americans who don’t wish to migrate to India and/or some other off-shore haven are going to have a difficult career.

Why would any smart American undergrad go into IT when companies like IBM and HP are talking of stepping up their off-shoring efforts in the coming years? They want cheap labor, no matter the real cost.

I have been very successful in IT, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it today to anyone except people who are geeks. . . .

I think the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Labor are not correct.

Crisis and Opportunity

• In this age of technology-enabled globalization (see Tom Friedman’s The World is Flat), the problems in the United States create opportunities for the rest of the world.

• India and China have seized these opportunities with a vengeance. There is no reason that Europe cannot do the same.

• Given the current political situation and its apparent trends, the United States may be unable to respond to the crisis without this kind of external pressure.

• Economic strength in the rest of the world can serve as an essential counterweight to U.S. dominance.