Communications of the relaunched

CACM Relaunched as Open Access, Web-First Publication

ACM has relaunched Communications of the ACM (CACM) as a web-first publication, accessible to all without charge—including the entire backlog of CACM articles. First published in 1958, CACM is one of the most respected information technology magazines. The web-first model will allow ACM to publish articles more rapidly than before so that readers can keep abreast of the lightning-fast changes in the computing field. At the same time, researchers will be able to reference and cite valuable information and research from CACM articles more quickly. This marks another important milestone in ACM's ongoing transition to a fully open access publisher.

Celebrate Women's History Month 2024 with ACM

This Women's History Month, ACM proudly commemorates the groundbreaking achievements of women in computing. Join us in celebrating their contributions with a curated selection of past People of ACM interviews, ByteCast episodes, TechTalks sessions, and clips from previous diversity panels which will be showcased on ACM's social media accounts throughout the month of March. Additionally, in partnership with Rob O'Connor's podcast, The Machine, ACM Fellow Nuria Oliver discusses her career journey as a woman in the computing field.

Call for ACM-W Rising Star Award Nominations

The ACM-W Rising Star Award recognizes exceptional women or non-binary individuals whose early-career research has had a significant impact on the computing discipline, as measured by factors such as frequent citation of their work, creation of a new research area, a high degree of technology transfer, and/or other positive influences and societal impact. Self-nominations are encouraged. The award is given annually, and the recipient will receive a framed certificate and a $1,000 stipend. Nominations close on March 31, 2024.

Global Diversity Awareness Panel 2024

Recent advancements in AI have introduced many to its immense potential and functionality. However, how are AI technologies impacting different communities around the world? View the panel, "A Global Perspective on Contemporary AI," featuring Alain Tchana from the LIG laboratory, Kalika Bali from Microsoft Research India, Nadia Rodríguez Rodríguez from the University of Lima, and Aboubakar Mountapmbeme from the University of North Texas. Their discussion explores the crucial need to involve the global community in AI development and the inclusion of underrepresented cultures in its coding to make AI accessible to all.

ACM Names 2023 Fellows

ACM has named 68 members ACM Fellows for significant contributions in areas including algorithm design, computer graphics, cybersecurity, energy-efficient computing, mobile computing, software analytics, and web search, to name a few. The ACM Fellows program recognizes the top 1% of ACM Members for their outstanding accomplishments in computing and information technology and/or outstanding service to ACM and the larger computing community.

ACM Names 2023 Distinguished Members

ACM has named 52 Distinguished Members for outstanding contributions to the field. All 2023 inductees are longstanding ACM members and were selected by their peers for a range of accomplishments that advance computing as a science and a profession. The ACM Distinguished Member program recognizes up to 10 percent of ACM worldwide membership based on professional experience and significant achievements in computing.

US National Science Foundation Supports Turing Awardees

ACM's A.M. Turing Award, often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of Computing," is given to individuals who have contributed lasting and major technical accomplishments to computing. But did you know that more than half of A.M. Turing awardees have been funded by the US National Science Foundation at some point in their careers? Now the NSF has created a website commemorating all A.M. Turing Award recipients, their accomplishments, and their relationships with the Foundation. Please visit the site to learn more.

ACM Releases Report on Enrollment and Retention in Undergraduate Computing

ACM has released the new report, “Computing Enrollment and Retention: Results From the 2021-22 Undergraduate Enrollment Cohort," by Jodi L.Tims, Cindy Tucker, Mark A. Weiss, and Stuart Zweben. Developed by the ACM Education Board’s Actionable Enrollment and Retention Task Force, the report is an annual summary of data about enrollment, degree completions, and retention of undergraduate computing degree programs in the United States. In particular, it notes that the representation of women in computing programs is at its highest point in the last five years, and that enrollment has increased in all areas of computing except computer engineering.

New Open Access Publishing Model for ICPS Coming in 2024

In a major step in its transition to fully Open Access (OA) publication of all content on the ACM Digital Library, ACM will transition the International Conference Proceedings Series (ICPS) to a fully OA publishing model from January 2024. In the new model, all ICPS papers will be made OA upon publication, and existing ICPS papers will be converted to OA. Some authors who are not at ACM Open institutions will be required to pay Article Processing Charges (APCs). The model will apply to all conferences for which the Call for Papers will be issued on or after January 1, 2024.

ACM Skills Bundle Add-On

ACM has created a new Skills Bundle add-on providing unlimited access to ACM's collection of thousands of online books, courses, and training videos from O'Reilly, Skillsoft Percipio, and Pluralsight. ACM’s collection includes more than 60,000 online books and video courses from O’Reilly, 9,700 online courses and 11,000 eBooks and audiobooks from Skillsoft, and 2,000 courses from Pluralsight.

The new Skills Bundle add-on is available to paid Professional Members only. Visit the ACM subscription page or contact Member Services to add the Skills Bundle to your membership.

TELO Accepted for Scopus Coverage

ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization (TELO) has been accepted for Scopus coverage. Similar to Web of Science, Scopus is an extensive yet selective abstract and citation database that provides comprehensive coverage of peer-reviewed journals, books, conference abstracts, and patents across the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. By having its content included in Scopus, TELO’s content will be discoverable at 7,000 of the world’s top research institutions.

ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization

ACM Boasts Strong Impact Factors

The journals of ACM once again had an impressive showing in the latest Journal Citation Reports release from Clarivate, with notable performances across the entire portfolio and fifteen journals receiving their first impact factors—including four titles from the innovative Proceedings of the ACM (PACM) program. ACM's flagship magazine Communications of the ACM (CACM) continued its dominance by receiving an all-time high impact factor of 22.7, placing it first in all three of its categories, and ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) which continued to ascend with an impact factor of 16.6, placing it third in the Computer Science, Theory & Methods category.

ACM Boasts Strong Impact Factors

Ceasing Print Publication of ACM Journals and Transactions

ACM has made the decision to cease print publication for ACM’s journals and transactions as of January 2024. There were several motivations for this change: ACM wants to be as environmentally friendly as possible; print journals lack the new features and functionality of the electronic versions in the ACM Digital Library; and print subscriptions, which have been declining for years, have now reached a level where the time was right to sunset print. Please contact [email protected] should you have any questions.

Ceasing Print Editions for ACM Journals and Transactions

TechBrief on Trusted AI

ACM TechBriefs is a series of short technical bulletins by ACM’s Technology Policy Council that present scientifically-grounded perspectives on the impact of specific developments or applications of technology. Designed to complement ACM’s activities in the policy arena, the primary goal is to inform rather than advocate for specific policies. The new edition is focused the effectiveness of mechanisms and metrics implemented to promote trust of AI must be empirically evaluated to determine if they actually do so. Distrust of AI calls for a deeper understanding of stakeholder perceptions, concerns, and fears.

HotTopic Panel on AI Regulation

To help make sense of the many and multiplying efforts to coordinate future "GenAI" policy and governance around the globe, ACM's Technology Policy Council hosted the latest in its HotTopics webinar series, "Artificial Intelligence, Real Regulation: International Perspectives and Prospects"—now available on demand. It is a fascinating discussion between moderator Michel Beaudouin-Lafon, panelists Dame Wendy Hall, Juha Heikkila, and Marc Rotenberg, and audience members about the growing concerns surrounding the growth and regulation of generative artificial intelligence both now and in the future.

TPC Releases Principles for Generative AI Technologies

In response to major advances in generative AI technologies—as well as the significant questions these technologies pose in areas including intellectual property, the future of work, and even human safety—ACM's global Technology Policy Council (TPC) has issued "Principles for the Development, Deployment, and Use of Generative AI Technologies." Drawing on the deep technical expertise of computer scientists in the United States and Europe, the TPC statement outlines eight principles intended to foster fair, accurate, and beneficial decision-making concerning generative and all other AI technologies.

Meet Deirdre K. Mulligan

Deirdre K. Mulligan serves as Principal Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). OSTP works to maximize the benefits of science and technology to advance health, prosperity, security, environmental quality, and equity for all Americans. OSTP advises the President and White House senior staff on key issues related to science and technology, and coordinates Federal Government technology policy and priorities. In her interview, she discusses her role as Deputy US Technology Officer, emerging challenges in information technology law, and more

ACM Opens First 50 Years Backfile

ACM has opened the articles published during the first 50 years of its publishing program, from 1951 through the end of 2000, These articles are now open and freely available to view and download via the ACM Digital Library. ACM’s first 50 years backfile contains more than 117,500 articles on a wide range of computing topics. In addition to articles published between 1951 and 2000, ACM has also opened related and supplemental materials including data sets, software, slides, audio recordings, and videos.

Meet Kurt Mehlhorn

Kurt Mehlhorn was a director of the Max Planck Institute for Informatics for thirty years from 1990 - 2020. He was the recipient of the 2010 ACM Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award for contributions to algorithm engineering by creating the LEDA Library for algorithmic problem solving, and was named an ACM Fellow for important contributions in complexity theory and in the design, analysis, and practice of combinatorial and geometric algorithms. In his interview, he discusses computational complexity, algorithm engineering, the allocation of funds for research, and more.

Featured ACM ByteCast

ACM ByteCast is ACM's series of podcast interviews with researchers, practitioners, and innovators who are at the intersection of computing research and practice. In this episode of ACM ByteCast, Bruke Kifle hosts Jacki O'Neill, Director of the Microsoft Africa Research Institute (MARI) in Nairobi, Kenya, where she is building a multi-disciplinary team combining research, engineering, and design to solve local problems globally. Her research interests span AI, HCI, social science, and technology for emerging markets. 

Jacki O'Neill

View On Demand - 2023 Heidelberg Laureate Forum

The 2023 Heidelberg Laureate Forum connected young researchers and other participants with scientific pioneers to learn how the laureates made it to the top of their fields, bringing together some of the brightest minds in mathematics and computer science for an unrestrained, interdisciplinary exchange. This year, 22 ACM A.M. Turing Award and ACM Prize in Computing recipients participated in numerous engaging panel discussions and spark sessions as well as delivering key lectures. You can now view them along with many others via the 2023 HLF YouTube channel.

Diversity Data Collection at ACM

ACM is deeply committed to fostering a scientific community that both supports and benefits from the talents of community members from a wide range of backgrounds. To this end, ACM has adopted new demographic questions developed by ACM’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council to understand current levels of participation and to gauge our success at advancing DEI. It is mandated that they be used throughout ACM for all activities, and responses will be required from all ACM authors, reviewers, conference attendees, volunteers, and members. Please take the time to fill out your questionnaire today.

IUI 2024, Mar. 18 - 21

The annual meeting of the Intelligent User Interfaces community serves as a premier international forum for reporting outstanding research and development on intelligent user interfaces, and where researchers and practitioners will meet and discuss state-of-the-art advances at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Workshops and tutorials include "HAI-GEN: Human-AI Co-Creation with Generative Models," "PMF: Past Meets Future: Workshop on Human-AI Interaction for Digital History and Cultural Heritage," and more. The event is being held in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

SIGCSE 2024, Mar. 20 - 23

The SIGCSE Technical Symposium p=addresses problems common among educators working to develop, implement and/or evaluate computing programs, curricula, and courses. The symposium provides a forum for sharing new ideas for syllabi, laboratories, and other elements of teaching and pedagogy, at all levels of instruction. Workshops include "Using Large Language Models for Teaching Computing," "Teaching with AI (GPT)," and more. Keynote speakers are Todd D. Zakrajsek University of North Carolina at (Chapel Hill), Rachel Rose (Industrial Light & Magic), Jandelyn Plane (University of Maryland), and more. The event is being held in Portland, Oregon, USA.

DATE 2023, Mar. 25 - 27

The Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference is the premiere European event for electronic system design & test. Tutorials and workshops will include "From Nano-Electronics to Secure Systems," "Open-Source Design Automation", "Better Machine Learning," "Responsible and Robust AI", "Work Force Development," and more. Keynote speakers are Robert Dimond (ARM), Luc Augustin (SMART Photonics), Hai Li (Duke University), Ayse Coskun (Boston University), and more. The event is being held in Valencia, Spain.

Measuring GitHub Copilot's Impact on Productivity

In this article from the March 2024 issue of Communications of the ACM, Albert Ziegler, et al. investigate whether usage measurements of developer interactions with GitHub Copilot can predict perceived productivity as reported by developers by analyzing survey responses from developers using GitHub Copilot and match their responses to measurements collected from the IDE. They consider acceptance counts and more detailed measures of contribution, find that acceptance rate of shown suggestions is a better predictor of perceived productivity than the alternative measures, and more.

Multiparty Computation: To Secure Privacy, Do the Math

MPC (multiparty computation) was introduced to the world in 1982—at about the same time the Commodore 64 was announced. Why are we still talking about MPC more than 40 years later? Well, it turns out MPC is based on some extremely complex math, which is like nectar to anyone in the field of cryptography. And, over the past decade, MPC has come to be exhumed from the archives and harnessed as one of the most powerful tools available for the protection of sensitive data. Here, in a discussion with Nigel Smart, Joshua W. Baron, Sanjay Saravanan, Jordan Brandt, and Atefeh Mashatan, we explore some of the implications of these advances.

Automatically Testing Database Systems

ACM Queue’s "Research for Practice" serves up expert-curated guides to the best of computing research, and relates these breakthroughs to the challenges that software engineers face every day. In this installment, "Automatically Testing Database Systems," Manuel Rigger (Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore) presents three papers. The first focuses on the problem of automatically synthesizing sophisticated test oracles that check whether the outputs of a database history are correct. The second co-designs input generation and test oracle in order to focus strictly on bugs in concurrency control. The last covers a diverse input space of SQL dialects while relying on the "built-in" test oracle of system crashes.

Send Email as Your "@acm.org" Address

ACM is excited to announce a new enhancement of to the widely used ACM email forwarding service. Through a partnership with MailRoute, SMTP Auth Relay is now available for member use. To start sending fully authenticated email as your @acm.org address, simply log in at https://myacm.acm.org and click the "SMTP Auth Relay" link.

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ACM Updates Code of Ethics

ACM recently updated its Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. The revised Code of Ethics addresses the significant advances in computing technology since the 1992 version, as well as the growing pervasiveness of computing in all aspects of society. To promote the Code throughout the computing community, ACM created a booklet, which includes the Code, case studies that illustrate how the Code can be applied to situations that arise in everyday practice and suggestions on how the Code can be used in educational settings and in companies and organizations. Download a PDF of the ACM Code booklet.

On March 3, 2022, ACM’s Executive Committee decided not to hold any conferences in Russia while the conflict in the Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis in Europe continue. This decision applies to ACM sponsored conferences and workshops as well as in-cooperation events.