Acm's Annual Report
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acm’sannualreportfor FY10 DOI:10.1145/1866739.1866768 Wendy Hall By discovering, welcoming, ACM’s Annual Report and nurturing It has truly been a banner year for ACM. talent from all We firmly established ACM hubs in Europe, corners of the India, and China after years of exhaustive computing arena, efforts to expand the Association’s global ACM can truly be reach. We moved ACM’s commitment parts to join forces to improve working distinguished as to women in computing to a new level conditions for women in computing in the world’s leading with further development of the ACM India. The Association’s commitment Women’s Council and the launch of to addressing the challenges faced by computing society. ACM-W activities in India. And, (dare women in the field today is one that ev- I say, not surprisingly), ACM mem- ery member should applaud. bership ended the year at another all- The fact that membership has time high. continued to increase for eight con- Increasing ACM’s relevance and in- secutive years is testament to the fluence in the global computing com- ever-growing awareness of ACM’s munity has been a top priority through- commitment to supporting the pro- out my presidency. By sharing ACM’s fessional growth of its members. In- array of valued resources and services deed, by the end of FY10—spanning with a borderless audience, and by dis- an acutely challenging year in global covering, welcoming, and nurturing economies—the Association’s mem- talent from all corners of the comput- bership stood at an all-time high, thus ing arena, ACM can truly be distin- cementing ACM’s position as the larg- guished as the world’s leading com- est educational and scientific comput- puting society. It was therefore a great ing society in the world. honor to host the opening days of ACM The following pages summarize Europe, ACM India, and ACM China. some of the highlights of a busy year in The global stage has indeed been set the life of ACM. While much has been for ACM to flourish internationally as accomplished, there is still much to be never before. done. In FY11, the Association will con- ACM continues to play a leadership tinue to grow initiatives in India, Chi- role in improving the image and health na, and Europe as well as identify other of the computing discipline. This is regions of the world where it is feasible particularly evident with the Associa- for ACM to increase its level of activ- tion’s work in influencing change for ity. Improving the image and health women pursuing a career in comput- of our discipline and field requires the ing. Through committees and initia- concerted commitment of every ACM tives such as ACM Women’s Council, volunteer, board, chapter, committee, The Coalition to Diversify Computing, and member. It is through the support and the Computer Science Teachers of devoted volunteers, members, and Association (CSTA), ACM is helping to industry partners that ACM is able to build balance, diversity, and opportu- make a real difference in the future of nity for all who may be interested in computing. It has been a pleasure to technology. It was particularly inspir- serve as your president during a time of ing to see members of ACM-W on hand such great promise. at the launching of ACM India earlier this year, encouraging their counter- Wendy Hall, acm presidenT January 2011 | Vol. 54 | no. 1 | communications oF The Acm 9 acm’sannualreportfor FY10 ACM’s Annual Report for FY10 ACM, the Association for Computing education ography of resources selected from Machinery, is an international scientific ACM continues to work with multiple ACM’s Digital Library, ACM’s online and educational organization dedicated organizations on important issues book and course offerings, and non- to advancing the arts, sciences, and ap- related to the image of computing ACM resources created by experts’ plications of information technology. and the health of the discipline and recommendations on current com- profession. In the second year of an puting topics. A Tech Pack comprises Publications NSF grant to develop a more relevant a set of fundamentally important ar- The centerpiece of the ACM Publica- image for computing, ACM worked ticles on a subject with new material tion portfolio is the ACM Digital Li- in tandem with WGBH-Boston in the to provide a context and perspective brary. During the past year, 21,000 creation of a new messaging cam- on the theme. The goal is that com- full-text articles were added to the DL, paign called “Dot Diva.” The cam- munities might be built around Tech bringing total holdings to 281,000 paign, which rolled out in the U.S. last Packs with members commenting on articles. ACM’s Guide to Computing month, is focused on ways to engage selected resources and suggesting Literature is an integral part of the young girls with the potential of com- new ones. DL, providing an increasingly com- puting. The Professions Board Case Study prehensive index to the literature of ACM and the Association for In- program took off this year, with the computing. More than 230,000 works formation Systems (AIS) jointly de- first of several planned studies avail- were added to the bibliographic data- veloped new curriculum guidelines able online and in print. The program base in FY10, bringing the total Guide for undergraduate degree programs was designed to take an in-depth look coverage to over 1.52 million works. in information systems that for the at a company or product or technol- Significant enhancements were first time include both core and elec- ogy from its inception to future plans made to the Digital Library and Guide tive courses suited to specific career by interviewing some of the key play- this year, including a major reorgani- tracks. Released in May, IS 2010 is ers involved. The inaugural case study zation of the core citation pages and aimed at educating graduates who was posted on the ACM Queue site and to ACM bibliometrics. Along with con- are prepared to enter the work force published in Communications of the tent reformation, there is now greater equipped with IS-specific as well as ACM. The article was quickly slash- ease of navigation and a greater selec- foundational knowledge and skills. dotted, and drew over 50,000 unique tion of tools and resources. The report describes the seven core visits to the Queue site by the end of ACM currently publishes 40 jour- courses that must be covered in every the fiscal year. nals and Transactions, 10 magazines, IS program and the curriculum can be Traffic to the Queue Web site and 23 newsletters. In addition, it adapted for schools of business, pub- (http://queue.acm.org/) more than provides primary online distribution lic administration, and information doubled this year over last. By the for 10 periodicals through the Digi- science or informatics. end of FY10, the site delivered nearly tal Library. During FY10, ACM added ACM’s Computer Science Teach- a million page views to nearly half a 364 conference and related workshop ers Association (CSTA) continues to million readers. proceedings to the DL, including 45 support and promote the teaching of in ACM’s International Conference Pro- computer science at the K–12 level as Public Policy ceedings Series. well as providing opportunities and Members of the U.S. Public Policy Two ACM magazines were re- resources for teachers and students to Council of ACM (USACM) had an ac- launched during FY10. Crossroads, the improve their understanding of com- tive year interacting with policymak- ACM student magazine became XRDS, puting disciplines. CSTA’s mission is ers in areas of e-voting, privacy, and with a more expansive editorial scope to ensure computer science emerges security, as well as testifying before and a more modern look to appeal to as a viable discipline in high schools Congressional committees and help- the student audience. ACM Inroads and middle schools; it is a key partner ing develop principles for increasing was transformed from the SIGCSE in ACM’s effort to see real computer the usability of government informa- Bulletin newsletter to an ACM maga- science count at the high school level. tion online. Among the issues tackled zine with a wider variety of content for this year, USACM joined a task force computer science educators. Professional Development for the Future of American Innova- Periodicals that were approved by The Professional Development Com- tion urging more funding for basic the Publications Board and are now mittee spearheaded the development research and STEM education. Mem- on the launching pad for FY11: ACM of a new product for practitioners and bers also expressed concerns with the Transactions on Management Infor- managers this year called Tech Packs. Cybersecurity Act of 2009, provided mation Systems; ACM Transactions on These integrated learning packages constructive comments on a draft of Intelligent Systems and Technology; were created to provide a resource the Internet Privacy bill, and issued and ACM Transactions on Interactive for emerging areas of computing de- a response to e-voting legislation and Intelligent Systems. signed around an annotated bibli- Internet voting as it relates to military 10 communications oF The Acm | jAnuary 2011 | Vol. 54 | no. 1 acm’sannualreportfor FY10 and overseas voters. The ACM Student Research Com- ACM Council The ACM Committee on Comput- petition (SRC), sponsored by Micro- PResiDenT ers and Public Policy aids the Associa- soft Research, provides a unique fo- wendy hall Vice PResiDenT tion with respect to a variety of inter- rum for undergraduate and graduate alain Chesnais nationally relevant issues pertaining students to present their original re- secRetary/TReAsuReR to computers and public policy.