Communications of the ACM
Editor's Letters
Andrew A. Chien is the William Eckhardt Distinguished Service Professor in Computer Science at The University of Chicago, Director of the CERES Center for Unstoppable Computing, and a Senior Computer Scientist for Argonne National Laboratory.Andrew is the Editor-in-Chief of Communications of the ACM, since July 2017, and has served in various roles on the editorial board since 2008.
Four Aspirations for ACM 2032
May 2022
May 2022
To fulfill its responsibility as the world's preeminent computing professional society, the ACM must transform itself to lead. View full article
The powerful forces pulling the global computing community apart have broad implications on all seven continents, not just in the U.S. and China. View full article
Good, Better, Best: How Sustainable Should Computing Be?
December 2021
December 2021
The grid faces major challenges to decarbonize, and the computing community can and should help accelerate the process. View full article
Time for Two Annual Turing Awards
June 2021
June 2021
ACM should bestow two Turing Awards each year, starting immediately. View full article
Around the World
March 2021
March 2021
In 2017, we made the strategic decision to launch Communications' Regional Special Sections. In April 2021, we will publish the special section for Arabia, completing our circumnavigation of the world. The special sections have emerged as a "multicultured splendor." View full article
Driving the Cloud to True Zero Carbon
February 2021
February 2021
Climate change has come to the fore as a business concern, and this compels the business leaders of computing technology companies to be on the side of progress toward true zero carbon. View full article
2021: Computing's Divided Future
January 2021
January 2021
China and the West's fundamental systemic differences and growing geopolitical competition are increasingly open. The new reality is pulling the computing community apart, and spilling over into the academic and research communities. View full article
In addition to reaping computing's bounty, we should "own" and work to reduce the negative impacts of computing. Both carbon emissions and e-waste are growing fast and need attention! View full article
Cracks in Open Collaboration in Universities
January 2020
January 2020
Universities and the interchange of scholars and students in international collaborations have long played an important role in knitting a fabric of human relationships and shared understanding. This fabric is fraying rapidly. View full article
Sustaining Open Collaboration in Universities
September 2019
September 2019
Increasing international tension and distrust, and its projection into universities, is eroding open collaboration and inquiry. View full article
Halfway Round!
July 2019
July 2019
In November 2017, we launched Communications' Regional Special Sections. A year and half later, I'm happy to report we're halfway around the world and gaining momentum! View full article
Owning Computing's Environmental Impact
March 2019
March 2019
It is time for the computing community to face up to computing's growing environmental impact—and take responsibility for it. View full article
Open Collaboration in an Age of Distrust
January 2019
January 2019
We are manifestly in a new era of international relations—"An Age of Distrust"—where the trend toward increased trade and integration has stalled, if not reversed. View full article
Introducing Communications' Regional Special Sections
November 2018
November 2018
I am pleased to introduce the first regional special section of Communications, which we hope will become a feature that you anticipate and enjoy, and of course value for the insights and perspectives it presents! View full article
Computer Architecture: Disruption from Above
September 2018
September 2018
For the research community, opportunities to shape a profoundly different, new age of computer architecture are emerging. View full article
Go Big!
April 2018
April 2018
I was fortunate to enter computing in the era of site funding by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration, whose sustained investment of $10M/year (inflation adjusted) enabled the undertaking of bold transformative ideas. Large-scale funding enables examination of larger questions that cross problem spaces, systems, abstractions, even fields. I believe the need for large investments has never been greater. View full article
Here Comes Everybody . . . to Communications
March 2018
March 2018
I am pleased to announce a new Communications of the ACM initiative to expand the Communications community globally. Why? To include important voices and perspectives in the conversation about the present and future of computing. View full article
Computing Is the Secret Ingredient (well, not so secret)
December 2017
December 2017
Computer science is both a powerful enabler of rapid advances in all intellectual fields and a disruptor driving furious revolutions in commerce and society worldwide. View full article
Computing Is a Profession
October 2017
October 2017
The notion of what constitutes a profession has been studied extensively through exploration of its attributes. Common among these are a deep technical expertise, an essential, valued, societal contribution, and the need to adhere to high ethical and technical standards. Computing exhibits all of the attributes of a profession. View full article
The Communications of the ACM team is dynamic; a collection of passionate leaders, making change and creating the future CACM through the actions, initiatives, and goals that we are pursuing today. In that vein, here are some of my ambitions for the Future CACM. View full article
It is with great pleasure that I take the helm as the ninth Editor-in-Chief of Communications, the flagship publication and ACM's vessel for the most important and interesting happenings across the field of computing. View full article