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Engaging the liberal arts and humanities

Chairman, IEEE SA WG on P1599Chairman, IEEE CS TC on CGM

Denis L. Baggi

T & C Board Meeting Las Vegas, May 15, 2008

Liberal Arts and HumanitiesLas Vegas, May 15, 2008

The Computer Society: history• Subcommittee on Large-Scale Computing of the

American Institute of Electrical Engineers, 1946• AIEE and IRE merge to become IEEE, 1963• 50’s: 19 chapters US, 8,874 members• 60’s: 41 chapters, 16,862 members • 70’s: 100 chapters, 43,930 members• 80’s: 33 TC’s, 65,200 periodical editorial pages,

> 50 conferences annually, 56 standards, 125 working groups, Brussels, Tokyo, ~80,000 members


The Computer Society today

• 90,000 members, World's leading organization of computer professionals. largest of the 39 societies of the IEEE

• Computing has changed: personal workstations, portable computers used for text, hypertext, image, video, sound, music, and network communication

• Example: entertainment and music second in economic importance only to oil

• New roles for the CS as a continuation of its past pioneering activity


New Credibility• needed, to attract contributing professionals

not of engineering background• Vision. The CS represents and supports all

those who contribute to computing in some activity: computer scientists and professionals, psychologists, sociologists, physicians, lawyers, musicians, artists, ...

• Mission. The CS is open to new proposals and new kinds of members, to quality beyond engineering and technology, with flexible models for Technical Committees, publications, conferences, ...


CS already interdisciplinaryExplanation of next slide:

• TC’s and TF’s from the Web site• Technical Councils in Bold and

Italics• TC’s in regular font• Task Forces in Italics

• plus: number > 0 and < 1 representing the degree of interdisciplinarity (subjective and arguable)

Software Engineering (TCSE) 0.1Test Technology Technical C. (TTTC) 0.1Autonomous and Autonomic Sys. (TCAAS) 0.3Bioinformatics (TCBI) 0.6Complexity in Computing (TCCX) 0.2Computational Medicine (TCCM) 0.6Computer Architecture (TCCA) 0.1Computer Communications (TCCC) 0.2Computer Elements (TCCE) 0.4Computer Languages (TCCL) 0.5Computer Generated Music (TCCGM) 0.7Data Engineering (TCDE) 0.1Design Automation (TCDA) 0.1Digital Libraries (TCDL) 0.6Distributed Processing (TCDP) 0.1Electronic Commerce (TCEC) 0.5Electronics and the Environment (TCEE) 0.8Eng. of Computer Based Systems (TCECBS) 0.4Fault-Tolerant Computing (TCFT) 0.2Intelligent Informatics (TCCI) 0.5Internet (TCI) 0.7Learning Technology (TFLT) 0.6Mass Storage Systems (TCMS) 0.1

Mathematical Foundations of Computing (TCMF) 0.6Microprocessors and Microcomputers (TCMM) 0.1Microprogr. & Microarchitecture (TCuARCH) 0.1Multimedia Computing (TCMC) 0.9Multiple-Valued Logic (TCMVL) 0.3O S Applications and Environments (TCOS) 0.1Parallel Processing (TCPP) 0.1Pattern Analysis and Machine Int. (TCPAMI) 0.4Real-Time Systems (TCRTS) 0.3Scalable Computing (TCSC) 0.4Security and Privacy (TCSP) 0.6Services Computing (TCSVC) 0.6Simulation (TCSIM) 0.5Systems Packaging (TCCP) 0.2Visualization and Graphics (vgTC) 0.6VLSI (TCVLSI) 0.2Wearable Information Systems (TCWIS) 0.7Embedded System Codesign (TFESC) 0.4Game Technology (TFGAM) 0.7Haptics (TFHAP) 0.7Human Centered Computing (TFHCC) 0.7Information Assurance (TFIA) 0.4Nanoelectr., Nanoarch. & Nanocomp. (TFNANO) 0.3

Results: 18.3, or 40%



Existing examples: engineers and other specialists working together

• TC on Computer Generated Music: “between Signal Processing and Artistic Computer Music, including the extremes”

• perhaps also true for the TC’s on Bioinformatics, Multimedia, Electr. and Environment, Wearable Info. Systems, TF's on Game Technology, Haptics


Examples from outside the CS

• ... what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world...” (Steve Jobs, “Triumph of the Nerds part 3”, PBS)


Conclusions (1)

• Continue with quality of publications, conferences, ...

• Continue with “traditional” engineering TC’s and activities

• but extend activities to capture, credibly, professionals not of engineering background, and make its quality available to everybody

Recall: D.Baggi, Addressing the Evolving Profile of Computer Professionals, IEEE COMPUTER, October 1997, pp.84-85 (11 years ago!)


Conclusions (2)

• CS grows several times and enjoys contributions to computing of new types

• IEEE, and the technical part of the CS, become the supplier of technology and the technical reference for the whole CS

Recall: D.Baggi, Addressing the Evolving Profile of Computer Professionals, IEEE COMPUTER, October 1997, pp.84-85 (11 years ago!)

Download - Engaging the liberal arts and humanities

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