Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program 30th Anniversary Symposium: Speakers and Panels

30th-newspost

On May 25th, 2022, the NITRD Subcommittee will hold a symposium to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the High-Performance Computing (HPC) Act of 1991 and the launching of the High-Performance Computing and Communications Program, now known as the NITRD Program. The NITRD 30th-Anniversary Symposium will bring together leading experts from the government, academic, and private sectors to both mark NITRD’s past accomplishments and look to the future. The full-day agenda includes speakers and panels in areas such as computing at scale, networking and security, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), privacy, and the internet of things (IoT). As a group, they will present the latest advances and discuss where research is headed.

In-Person attendance is by invitation only. The event will be livestreamed via the web, please register to receive the link to the livestream on the morning of the event.

 

Panel 1: Computing at Scale

Ben Zorn
Ben Zorn
Partner Researcher, Microsoft Research
Luiz André Barroso
Luiz André Barroso
Google Fellow
Ian Foster
Ian Foster
Argonne National Labs
Timothy M. Pinkston
Timothy M. Pinkston
The USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Katherine Yelick
Katherine Yelick
University of California Berkeley

As our lives become increasingly digital, cloud and HPC computing has transformed the way we interact, do business, do science, and entertain ourselves. Research investments in building distributed systems at scale, from algorithms, to networking, to operating systems, have enabled computation at a scale that was unimaginable 30 years ago. This rapid transformation creates unbounded opportunities but also raises new challenges to individual’s privacy, cybersecurity, and impacts on the social fabric of society. In this session, we celebrate the incredible achievements of HPC and cloud computing and consider the path forward. The panel will be moderated by Ben Zorn and will include the following speakers: Luiz Andre Barroso, Ian Foster, Timothy Pinkston, and Kathy Yelick.
↑ Top

 

Panel 2: Networking and Security

Robert Bonneau
Robert Bonneau
Office of the Secretary of Defense for R&E
Nadya T. Bliss
Nadya T. Bliss
ASU’s Global Security Initiative (GSI)
Deborah Frincke
Deborah Frincke
Sandia National Laboratories
Jim Kurose
Jim Kurose
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Over the past few decades, the Internet and mobile phones have transformed the world. The underlying fixed and wireless networking infrastructure is being evolved by shifting and implementing more functionality in software. However, the software-enabled flexibility comes at a greater risk of security vulnerabilities. Given the critical importance of networking infrastructures around the globe, the security and trustworthiness of these networks is of paramount importance. This panel will look at the remarkable achievements in networking and discuss the key challenges and paths forward in securing this critical infrastructure. The panel will be moderated by Bob Bonneau and will include the following speakers: Nadya Bliss, Deborah Frincke, Jim Kurose, and Chris Ramming.
↑ Top

 

Panel 3: AI/ML

Elizabeth Bradley
Elizabeth Bradley
Chair, Computing Community Consortium, and Professor, University of Colorado Boulder
Charles Isbell
Charles Isbell
Georgia Institute of Technology
Chad Jenkins
Chad Jenkins
University of Michigan
Talitha Washington
Talitha Washington
Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative
Patricia Ordóñez Franco
Patricia Ordóñez
University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras

Advances in artificial intelligence and robotics have transformed all of science and engineering and nearly every sector of our economy. This panel will characterize seminal federally-funded advances over the last three decades leading to today’s AI/robotics revolution, along with the challenges of fairness and trustworthiness that society faces in the years ahead. The panel will be moderated by Liz Bradley and will include the following speakers: Charles Isbell, Chad Jenkins, Talitha Washington, and Patricia Ordonez.
↑ Top

 

Panel 4: Privacy and IoT

Charles Romine
Charles Romine
Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Ed Felten
Ed Felten
Princeton University
Marc Groman
Marc Groman
Groman Consulting
Katerina Megas
Katerina Megas
NIST Cybersecurity for the Internet of Things (IoT) Program
Sunoo Park
Sunoo Park
Cornell Tech, Digital Life Initiative

Large-scale data analytics is enabling profound advances and new benefits in areas such as medicine, engineering, transportation, and agriculture. Preventing adverse privacy effects arising from such information processing is one of the great challenges of the digital age. The Internet of Things (IoT), a new domain of interconnected sensors, devices, and actuators, has the potential to further exacerbate negative impacts on privacy, as a myriad of sensing devices collect data and are combined into monitoring, tracking, and control systems in sectors such as healthcare, transportation, home and urban automation, and law enforcement. This panel will discuss the competing challenges of data use and privacy, and outline research goals to advance the technical, social, and policy solutions. The panel will be moderated by Chuck Romine and will include the following speakers: Ed Felten, Marc Groman, Katerina Megas, and Sunoo Park.
↑ Top

 

Panel 5: How Technology Can Benefit Society: Broadening Perspectives in Fundamental Research

Alondra Nelson
Alondra Nelson
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Janet Abbate
Janet Abbate
Virginia Tech
Deborah Estrin
Deborah Estrin
Cornell Tech
Charles Isbell
Charles Isbell
Georgia Institute of Technology
Ramayya Krishnan
Ramayya Krishnan
Carnegie Mellon University

While breakthroughs in networking and information technology supported by the NITRD program over the last three decades have had profoundly positive impacts on our society, we have also borne witness to the negative and oftentimes unintended consequences of such advances. For example, in recent years, innovations in generative adversarial networks have served to advance our understanding in fields as diverse as astrophysics and biology, they have also been the basis for the production of fake photographs and videos, threatening information integrity. Given the ubiquity of information technology research outputs in our daily lives, understanding how to “design in” ethical principles and responsible practices – and how to ensure a diversity of thought and perspectives in the design formulation – is increasingly critical. This panel will focus in on this aspect of the NITRD research space. The panel will be moderated by Alondra Nelson and will include the following speakers: Janet Abbate, Deborah Estrin, Charles Isbell, and Ramayya Krishnan.
↑ Top