Panel Discussion on“ The Role of Computer Science in University Development Strategy”

At the end of the keynotes during the second Global Forum of Development of Computer Science,a panel discussion was held to encourage further discussion on ways for universities to adapt to the rapidly changing computer science field.Five deans of top computer science departments participated,including the moderator.The discussions were guided along three topics,namely the role of computer science departments in universities today,the nature of computer science as a fundamental discipline or an applied one,and computer science education.Out of these topics,the panelists mainly focused on the interdisciplinary nature of computer science in teaching,research,and industry.The panelists agreed about ways to prepare for the interdisciplinary future,for example by establishing new research centers,introducing projectbased curricula,and collaborating with industry while keeping the campus vibrant.They also pointed out that universities may be under equipped for preparing future professionals to keep up with rapid new advances,especially in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Computer Science at University 2.0: What the Future Holds and How We Can Shape It

Alongside the development of computer science,many fields like engineering,finance and the natural sciences increasingly leverage computer science techniques to facilitate their own evolution.As a result,students now need to have a good grasp of computer science skills in order to keep pace with the new forms of working in these other fields.Therefore,higher education need to change to support this transformation.Computer Science 2.0 refers to this new way of educating that facilitates these interdisciplinary connections.This creates exciting opportunities for students and staff to interact across disciplines in teaching,research,and transfer to create the so-called University 2.0.

Challenges and Opportunities in Computer Science Executive Education

Carrying out executive education in computer science(CS)brings both opportunities and challenges.The major advantages are that it helps research programs with funding,data and reallife cases,and both professors and students can benefit from it by having greater engagement with industry.However,the main challenge is that most CS professors and doctoral students are currently not interested in executive education because they are more interested in their academic work.This paper first introduces the background of the Singapore government’s initiative for lifelong education for public,then presents the response from the National University of Singapore(NUS)that ultimately led to several executive education programs.Particular attention is given to the experience of the NUS School of Computing in carrying out computer science executive education.

Building the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

Broad multidisciplinary computing is transforming our modern life in many aspects,and computer science itself is also broadening.In response to these trends,the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)recently built a new college,the Schwarzman College of Computing.The missions of the College are to support rapid growth of computing fields,facilitate computing collaborations across departments and disciplines,and to focus on social,ethical,and policy issues in computing.This paper begins by introducing the history and design of the Schwarzman College.Then,it discusses the new opportunities that the College of computing has created at MIT,specifically the common ground for computing education and the social and ethical responsibilities of computing programs.