ACM launches Technology Policy Council to guide advocacy efforts

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), has announced the formation of the new ACM Technology Policy Council to coordinate the agenda for its activities around the world relating to social issues such as algorithmic bias and online privacy.

According to the announcement, the Policy Council will serve as the central convening point for the organization’s interactions with governments, the computing community, and the public for matters of public policy.

“The digital revolution is an international phenomenon,” says ACM President Cherri M. Pancake, “and the leading tech companies, whose services are used by billions every day, have facilities and customers in countries all over the world. So the pressing issues we hear about in the media―such as online privacy, data breaches, algorithmic bias, and the future of the internet―go beyond national borders. ACM’s new Technology Policy Council will provide a space in which computing professionals come together to offer global perspectives on global challenges.”

The ACM says it is the world’s largest computing society, and it has more than 25 years of experience providing nonpartisan technical expertise to policy leaders and government agencies through its U.S. and European Technology Policy Committees, which will now work under the guidance of the new Policy Council.

“The mission of the ACM Technology Policy Council will be to strengthen and elevate ACM’s policy initiatives around the world,” adds ACM Technology Policy Council Chair Lorraine Kisselburgh. “Government officials and legislators in nations everywhere are grappling with questions regarding the governance of technology, and the complexity of these technologies demands critical expertise. What ACM brings to the table is a deep bench of technical expertise to better inform policy, both nationally and globally.”

Members of the new Policy Council include Kisselburgh as Chair, along with seven academics and representatives of Google and Intel.

As one of its first initiatives, the Technology Policy Council will publish an ‘ACM Tech Briefs’ series of bi-monthly bulletins summarizing emerging technologies and research.

The ACM hosted a conference on algorithmic fairness, accountability and transparency in early-2019.

Article Topics

ACM  |  algorithms  |  artificial intelligence  |  data protection  |  legislation  |  privacy  |  regulation