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
The Status of Women of Color in Computer Science
Addressing the challenges of increasing the number of women of color in computing and ensuring their success.
From Communications of the ACM
Too Many Copyrights?
Reinstituting formalities — notice of copyright claims and registration requirements — could help address problems related to too many copyrights that last for...
From Communications of the ACM
Values in Design
Focusing on socio-technical design with values as a critical component in the design process.
From Communications of the ACM
Driving Power in Global Supply Chains
Supply chains are increasingly global. We pour energy into managing them efficiently, with their risks and rewards...
From ACM Opinion
How I Failed, Failed, and Finally Succeeded at Learning How to Code
When Colin Hughes was about 11 years old his parents brought home a rather strange toy. It wasn't colorful or cartoonish; it didn't seem to have any lasers or...
From ACM News
Making the Case For Security
Major corporations have made serious mistakes with information security recently, resulting in spectacular failures to protect business and customer records....
From ACM Opinion
The STEM (aka "smarty Pants") Conundrum
The promotion of science and math degrees is hampered by the impression that only the smartest of the smart can obtain them. What can educators do to make STEM's...
From Communications of the ACM
Computer Science Can Use More Science
Software developers should use empirical methods to analyze their designs to predict how working systems will behave.
From Communications of the ACM
The Risks of Stopping Too Soon
Good software design is never easy, but stopping too soon makes the job more difficult.
From Communications of the ACM
Practical Application of Theoretical Estimation
One of the most popular and successful approaches to estimating software projects is the Putnam model. Developed in the 1970s by...
From Communications of the ACM
Who Are We - Now?
Considerable progress has been made toward the formation of a computing profession since we started tracking it in this column a decade ago.
From Communications of the ACM
Identity Management and Privacy: A Rare Opportunity To Get It Right
The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace represents a shift in the way the U.S. government is approaching identity management, privacy, and the...
From ACM Opinion
Open Science: A Future Shaped By Shared Experience
Mapping the human genome showed how the Internet can play a vital part in collective scientific research. Now more scientists are collaborating—and inviting amateurs...
From ACM Opinion
Let in the Super-Immigrants!
The best way to improve the U.S. economy fast is to poach entrepreneurs from the rest of the world. So why do we make it so difficult for them to immigrate?
From ACM Opinion
Sputnik Helped Launch Career of Professor
The Soviet Union's 1957 launch of Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, had a profound impact on American higher education, and drove Andrew Romberger...
From ACM Opinion
Sputnik Helped Launch Career of Professor
The Soviet Union's 1957 launch of Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, had a profound impact on American higher education, and drove Andrew Romberger...
From ACM Opinion
Video Game Shapes Leadership Style of the New Head of Mit's Media Lab
Joi Ito has a knack for leading people, which he demonstrated, of all places, in World of Warcraft.
From Communications of the ACM
The Importance of Reviewing the Code
Highlighting the significance of the often overlooked underlying software used to produce research results.
From Communications of the ACM
Bell Labs and Centralized Innovation
In early 1935, a man named Clarence Hickman had a secret machine, about six feet tall, standing in his office. Hickman was...
From Communications of the ACM