Computer Science Research Current State

Computer science is an extensive field of information technology. In this fast paced time, progressive researches on computer science are rampant. With regard to this, there are a variety of articles and information regarding computer science research, its state, its technical issues and concerns that various companies or organizations have notions and opinions with their individual activities and undertakings. One of it is the IBM’s Almaden Research Center.

The Computer Science group at IBM's Almaden Research Center leads the next generation of research in information-based computing, user productivity, healthcare IT and the theoretical foundations of computer science. They invent new algorithms and architectures for finding, integrating, managing, analyzing and protecting information, and explore and prototype new modes of user interaction. And also, they are creating the technical underpinnings for a national healthcare network and do fundamental research into game theory and mechanism design, lattices and the theory of semantic mappings. The innovations they have played a role in creating entirely new disciplines such as relational database management and have also led to novel research areas such as information mining, schema mapping, data disclosure management and activity management.

The said group explores these areas from theory to systems, and from the laboratory to practice. They apply their technology to problems faced by companies in a broad range of industries including finance, healthcare, telecommunications and retail, directly interacting with clients and leveraging IBM's unparalleled technical sales and services teams. They pursue a mix of medium- and long-term research, including high-risk/high-reward projects with the potential for disruptive and revolutionary business impact. They measure their success by their strong publication record and their impact on IBM’s business and the world. The IBM’s Almaden researchers are active and respected members of their scientific communities and collaborate with universities.

Another article is the summary report of Professor Krithi Ramamritham presented by the Office of Naval Research, Asian Office about Computer Science Research in India. It embarked on the matter of India’s state of research in computer science. Has India realized its potential for high-caliber computer science research? The summary paper addressed this question in the context of computer science. It stated that India has shown the potential for high-caliber computer-science research because of the basis that India's pool of technical man power is one of the largest in the world, the growth rate of India's software industry has been tremendous in the recent past, and the demand in the West for students from India's top science and technology educational institutions has been very strong.

Many computer science researchers in India have endeavored to carry out high caliber research in spite of limited infrastructure and resources to conduct and communicate their research. Many of the researchers are involved in collaborative activities with institutions abroad, primarily in the US. Given the untapped potential that exists, researchers abroad may find it profitable to seek collaborators within India to further their research goals.

Indian computing industry must play its part, providing challenging opportunities that will bring out the potential in its employees. It cannot afford to sit on its current laurels for too long. The country needs technically-oriented leadership in the government to make this possible. Areas requiring attention include better incentives and appreciation for good research productivity, prudent management and use of research funding, enhanced salary levels for researchers at all ranks, appropriate means to set and demand accountability, and improved opportunities for peer interactions within India as well as for interactions between industry and academics.

In reference to the College of Engineering of NC State University, their key research areas are in Theory (Algorithms, Theory of Computation), Systems (Computer Architectures and Operating Systems, Embedded and Real-Time Systems, Parallel and Distributed Systems, Scientific and High Performance Computing), Artificial Intelligence (Intelligent Agents; Data-Mining, Information and Knowledge Discovery, Engineering and Management; eCommerce Technologies; Information Visualization, Graphics and Human-Computer Interaction), Networks (Networking and Performance Evaluation), Security (Software and Network Systems Security, Information Assurance, Privacy), Software Engineering (Requirements, Formal Methods, Reliability Engineering, Process and Methods, Programming Languages), and Computer-Based Education. The department has a number of teaching and research laboratories, centers and other facilities that support its educational and teaching mission.
Based on Wikipedia’s definition, Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. And there are different branches of computer science which are theory of computation, algorithms and data structures, programming languages and compilers, concurrent, parallel, and distributed systems, software engineering, computer architecture, communications and security, databases, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, and scientific computing. From these, we could derive the concept of the organizations of the state and their individual future undertakings in the field of computer science.

Based on the article “The Future of Computer Science Research in the US”, it was affirmed on May 12, 2005 at Washington, DC the Computing researchers informed a receptive congressional panel that the nation's dominant leadership position in information technology is at risk from cuts in research funding and changes in focus at federal mission agencies. The Computing Research Association, in written testimony endorsed by five other computing-related organizations, told the committee that the changing landscape for federal support of computing research threatens to derail the “extraordinarily productive” research enterprise that has enabled the innovation that drives the new economy.

The joint testimony notes a number of factors that imperil U.S. long-term leadership in IT, including DARPA's withdrawal from its historical support of university-based computer science research and cuts to the proposed IT research budgets at NIST, NASA, the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health.
"The impact of IT research on enabling of innovation resonates far beyond just the IT sector," said James D. Foley, Chair of CRA and professor of computer science at Georgia Institute of Technology. The computing research community testimony concluded with a call for the U.S. to maintain leadership in IT. "The U.S. still has the world's strongest capability in fundamental research in IT, and the most experience in how to leverage that capability towards economic growth," Foley said. But there are risks in letting uncertainty about funding that research linger.

Numerous conditions and situations of computer science in diverse organizations are varying in the researches’ extent of productivity and significance. As we look at their different states, we could run through that there are computer science researches that are ramping and mounting in investing and developing their researches while others are deteriorating and some are taking less consideration on its importance and advantage in the society.

http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/india/agency/krithi2.html
http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/research/
http://www.cra.org/govaffairs/blog/archives/000334.html