USACM Council
The membership of USACM will be voting soon to elect at-large representatives to the USACM Council, with terms starting January 1st. At-large Council members whose terms expire this December 31st are Jean Camp, Simson Garfinkel, and Jonathan Smith. If you are a member of USACM and are interested in serving on USACM Council, please contact a member of the nominations committee. If there is someone is in line with what you think USACM should be doing, then please nominate that person. Only those who have been USACM members for at least one year as of January 1, 2018, are eligible. The deadline for having a slate of candidates is November 13th.
ACM Policy Award
Consider nominating someone for this award, which is made in alternate years and the initial one is yet to be made because insufficient nominations were received the first time around. “The ACM Policy Award was established in 2014 to recognize an individual or small group that had a significant positive impact on the formation or execution of public policy affecting computing or the computing community. This can be for education, service, or leadership in a technology position; for establishing an innovative program in policy education or advice; for building the community or community resources in technology policy; or other notable policy activity. The award is accompanied by a $10,000 prize.” Further information and instructions are available at http://awards.acm.org/policy/nominations.
The award can recognize one or more of the following:
– Contributions to policy while working in a policy position
– Distinguished service on and contributions to policy issues
– Advanced scholarly work that has impacted policy
The deadline for nominations is January 15, 2018.
Missed Opportunities — Federal Science Policy Offices
I reached out to people who might know of prospects for the current Administration to make important policy position appointments.
Not much to report:
1. The Administration has yet to nominate a Director for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). OSTP director traditionally serves as the president’s science adviser.
2. Office of the Chief Technology Officer is also vacant. In the past, the CTO team helps shape Federal policies, initiatives, capacity, and investments that support the mission of harnessing the power of technology. They have also worked to anticipate and guard against the consequences that can accompany new discoveries and technologies.
3. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist nominee, Sam Clovis, recently withdrew his name from consideration. Clovis is a climate change denier with no training in science, food, or agriculture. For months, scientists, activists, and a broad coalition of groups have come together to demand that the Senate reject his nomination.
AAAS Policy News
For timely and objective information on current science and technology issues and assistance in understanding Federal science policy, check with the AAAS Office of Government Relations at https://www.aaas.org/program/govrelations
and the AAAS Policy and Public Statements at https://www.aaas.org/about/policy-and-public-statements.