Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From Communications of the ACM
GOTO Rankings Considered Helpful
Seeking to improve rankings by utilizing more objective data and meaningful metrics.
From ACM Opinion
Under Trump, The Fight Against Cybercrime Has Waned
The U.S. government is not doing enough to combat the burgeoning threat of cybercrime.
From ACM Opinion
Software Below the Poverty Line
The majority of open-source projects that we usually consider sustainable are actually receiving income below industry standards or even below the poverty threshold...
From Communications of the ACM
Encryption and Surveillance
Why the law-enforcement access question will not just go away.
From ACM Opinion
As Governments Adopt Artificial Intelligence, There's Little Oversight and Lots of Danger
Artificial intelligence systems can—if properly used—help make government more effective and responsive, improving the lives of citizens. Improperly used, however...
From ACM Opinion
The FBI Wanted a Backdoor to the iPhone. Tim Cook Said No
In 2016, Tim Cook fought the law—and won.
From ACM Opinion
The U.S. Is Losing a Major Front to China in the New Cold War
A swathe of the world is adopting China's vision for a tightly controlled internet over the unfettered American approach, a stunning ideological coup for Beijing...
From ACM Opinion
Is Julian Assange a Journalist, or Is He Just an Accused Thief?
Is Julian Assange a journalist? The Justice Department sidestepped that question in its indictment of Assange.
From ACM Opinion
The Robocall Crisis Will Never Be Totally Fixed
Years into the robocalling frenzy, your phone probably still rings off the hook with "important information about your account," updates from the "Chinese embassy...
From ACM Opinion
AI Pioneer: 'The Dangers of Abuse Are Very Real'
Yoshua Bengio is one of three computer scientists who last week shared the US$1-million A. M. Turing award—one of the field's top prizes.
From ACM Opinion
U.S. Allies Should Heed the Warnings about Huawei
In a recent newspaper advertisement, the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei appealed to common sense.
From ACM Opinion
Despite Consumer Worries, the Future of Aviation Will Be More Automated
In the wake of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes, people are thinking about how much of their air travel is handled by software...
From ACM Opinion
Huawei's Problem Isn't Chinese Backdoors. It's Buggy Software
A report on Thursday from a British government oversight group found that Chinese telecom-equipment maker Huawei has basic but deeply problematic flaws in its product...
From Communications of the ACM
Free Trade in a Digital World
Considering the possible implications for free trade, traditionally based on non-digital goods, for a modern global economy that is increasingly based on intangible...
From ACM Opinion
Cars Are Regulated for Safety, Why Not Information Technology?
As the computing industry grapples with its role in society, many people, both in the field and outside it, are talking about a crisis of ethics.
From ACM Opinion
Facebook and Google Aren't the Only Ones Tracking Your Clicks
Criticism of big tech companies that track us across the internet without our informed consent misses a bigger picture: There are hundreds of ad-tracking companies...
From ACM Opinion
The FAA Rigorously Tested the Boeing 737's Software
Two Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes have crashed under similar circumstances in the past six months, one in October in Indonesia and the other in Ethiopia last week....
From ACM Opinion
A Second 737 Max Crash Raises Questions about Airplane Automation
As you read this, over a million people are in flight. Close to a third of the commercial airplanes in the sky at any given moment are Boeing 737s: it is the best...
From ACM Opinion