The China Computer Federation has bestowed honorary membership on ACM's CEO Vicki Hanson. The CCF Honorary Membership is awarded to those people who are not CCF members but made great contributions to CCF, or to collaborations between CCF and other organizations. During the past 10 years of ACM's collaboration with CCF, Hanson made great efforts to strengthen their relationship, including inviting Turing Award laureates to speak at CCF events; helping to grow ACM membership in China; and, most recently, establishing a joint award for AI.

ACM has named 64 Distinguished Members for outstanding contributions to the field. All 2020 inductees are longstanding ACM members and were selected by their peers for a range of accomplishments that have contributed to technologies that move the computing field forward. The ACM Distinguished Member program recognizes up to 10 percent of ACM worldwide membership based on professional experience and significant achievements in computing.

TQC publishes papers and select surveys on topics in quantum computing and quantum information science. The journal targets the quantum computer science community with a focus on the theory and practice of quantum computing. Scope includes: models; algorithms and complexity; computing architecture; principles and methods of fault-tolerant quantum computation; design automation; and more. The inaugural issue includes a collection of five outstanding research papers that capture the breadth and sophistication of quantum computing research.

The ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing recognizes talented high school students intending to continue their higher education in computer science or technology. The program seeks to promote and encourage the field of computer science and empower young and aspiring learners to pursue computing challenges outside of the traditional classroom environment. Applications for the 2020-2021 prize are open now through January 18, 2021.

Timothy Mark Pinkston is a Professor and George Pfleger Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a Vice Dean, at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering. At USC, he founded the Superior Multiprocessor Architecture (SMART) Interconnects Group, where he and his colleagues conduct research on computer systems architecture. He has received a Minority Research Initiation Award and a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, and was named a 2019 ACM Fellow.

In this third episode of ACM-W’s webinar series, “Celebrating Technology Leaders,” host Bushra Anjum will explore user-centric design and design thinking—and the multitude of career paths they open—with leading user interface and user experience design professionals. How has the UI/UX design space evolved in the last two decades? What are the various stages of the design process and how to design with a business growth mindset? Is it really possible to predict user expectations?

ACM Selects are themed shortlists curated by subject matter experts for both serious and emerging computing professionals, with the goal of providing new ways to discover relevant resources, either through ACM or authenticated by ACM-affiliated specialists. The latest Selects cover Getting Started with Cybersecurity; Getting Started with People Management; ABC for Professional Relevance in the Digital World; and Spotlight on Computing in India.

As part of ACM’s efforts to combat exclusion in the computing profession, ACM's Diversity and Inclusion Council has launched an effort to replace offensive or exclusionary terminology in the computing field. They have developed a list of computing terms to be avoided in professional writing and presentations and offer alternative language. The Council plans to expand this list in the future and invites the community to submit suggestions for consideration.

In March 2020 ACM formed a Presidential Task Force (PTF) to help conference organizers transition their events to online. The PTF is working on a guide to offer practical advice and shed light on the largely unfamiliar territory of online conferencing.

The report, available here, includes pointers to a live document with additional resources. We welcome comments, suggestions and experience reports from the community.

ACM's Practitioner Board has created ACM ByteCast, a new podcast series in which hosts Rashmi Mohan and Jessica Bell interview researchers, practitioners, and innovators who are at the intersection of computing research and practice. In each monthly episode, guests will share their experiences, the lessons they’ve learned, and their own visions for the future of computing.

Listen to the latest episode featuring Jennifer Widom, Frederick Emmons Terman Dean of the School of Engineering and Fletcher Jones Professor in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, on the ACM Learning Center website, and subscribe to the series wherever you get your podcasts.

At its virtual General Assembly held in September, the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) adopted a new IFIP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. The code was adapted from ACM's Code of Ethics, which itself had been through consultation and development with members of IFIP, IEEE and other national and international bodies and companies. "As an international member of IFIP, ACM endorses the proposed IFIP Code of Ethics as a common international standard for computing and the profession," said ACM CEO Vicki Hanson. Read the IFIP news release.

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.

The Computing Research Association recently released the first of more than a dozen planned white papers exploring areas and issues around computing research with the potential to address national priorities over the next four years. Called "Quadrennial Papers," they attempt to portray a broad picture of computing research detailing potential research directions, challenges, and recommendations for policymakers and the computing research community. The papers cover five thematic areas: Core Computer Science, Broad Computing, Socio-Technical Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Diversity and Education.

Valérie Issarny is a Director of Research at the National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (France). She received an award from the French Ministry of Research in recognition of her work developing emergent middleware for the FP7 ICT FET IP CONNECT project. In 2014, she was made a Knight of France’s Legion d’honneur for her contributions to higher education and research. Issarny will become Editor-in-Chief of ACM Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems (TAAS) in December 2020. She is also an Associate Editor of ACM Transactions on Internet of Things (TIOT) and serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the ACM Europe Council.

The Computing Research Association (CRA) conducted two surveys about the COVID-19 disruption in summer 2020. One surveyed computer science faculty members about their experiences transitioning from teaching in person to teaching online as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The other surveyed department chairs, asking them about the impact of COVID-19 on their faculty, department operations, student job searches, and budgets, and their concerns going into fall 2020.

ACM's US Technology Policy Committee filed a friend of the court brief with the US Supreme Court in the landmark case of Van Buren v. United States—the first time it has reviewed the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a 1986 law that was originally intended to punish hacking. USTPC notes that the questions posed in this case have broad implications for data and computing scientists, as well as other professionals who use the internet and computing technology, particularly to access information posted online.

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee issued detailed principles and practices for the development and deployment of contact tracing technology intended to track and arrest the spread of COVID-19. The statement calls on governments that adopt such systems to choose "only those which... respect and protect the rights of all individuals; safeguard personal data and privacy to the highest degree technically possible; and are subject to scrutiny by the scientific community and civil society before, during and after deployment." Read the statement in Italian here and in French here.

ACM’s Europe Technology Policy Committee has formally urged the UK government to assure that its National Data Strategy provide for datasets that are open, subject to multidisciplinary expert review, protected by robust risk assessment, and compiled in consultation with marginalized communities to assure their benefit to all sectors of society.

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